“Hello Mother, Hello Father” A History of Summer Camps: Exhibit Hall Video

Summer camps for children were introduced during the last half of the 19th century. The camps offered a way for children to escape from an increasingly urban modern life. Famed child psychologist, G. Stanley Hall, proclaimed that it was essential for childhood development that children spend time outdoors to improve their bodies and minds. Living in nature for the summer was the best way to do that.
New Hampshire became a magnet for youth summer camps at the turn of the 20th Century with approximately 75 in operation in the Monadnock region since 1885. Several still operate here today.
Hello Mother, Hello Father: A History of Summer Camps in New Hampshire’s Monadnock Region shares the history of those establishments while delving into the history of national industry and the reforms that reshaped what it meant to be a child at the turn of the 20th century.
This video played on a loop in the Exhibit Hall for the duration of the exhibit. Filmed and edited by Peter Kelleher, the Program Coordinator at the Historical Society.
Special thanks to Maddie Waters, Judith Putzel, and Victoria Hawkins for their willingness to be interviewed for this video. Special thanks to the Drama Club of Keene High School for their readings of the Camper letters.