The Nurture of Nature: Childhood, Antimodernism, and Ontario Summer Camps, 1920-55

by Sharon Wall

Overview

Thousands of children attended summer camps in twentieth-century Ontario. Did parents simply want a break, or were broader developments at play? The Nurture of Nature explores how competing cultural tendencies – antimodern nostalgia and modern sensibilities about the landscape, child rearing, and identity – shaped the development of summer camps and, consequently, modern social life in North America. A valuable resource for those interested in the connections between the history of childhood, the natural environment, and recreation, The Nature of Nurture will also appeal to anyone who has been packed off to camp and wants to explore why.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780774816403
Publisher:	University of British Columbia Press
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Nature | History | Society
Pages:	392
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Illustrations vii

Foreword Graeme Wynn ix

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction 3

1 Back to Nature: Escaping the City, Ordering the Wild 26

2 Socialism for the Rich: Class Formation at the Private Camp 63

3 "All they need is air": Building Health, Shaping Class at the Fresh Air Camp 102

4 Making Modern Childhood the Natural Way: The Camp Experiment with Psychology, Mental Hygiene, and Progressive Education 140

5 Shaping True Natures in Nature: Camping, Gender, and Sexuality 175

6 Totem Poles, Tepees, and Token Traditions: "Playing Indian" at Camp 216

Conclusion: Ail Antimodern Melts into Modern? 251

Notes 258

Bibliography 334

Index 355

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The Nurture of Naturerepresents a major study of an important but neglected subject. It is an important contribution to the study of leisure and recreation in Canada, to the understanding of the character of modernity, and to the history of summer camps."—Keith Walden, Department of History, Trent University

Keith Walden

The Nurture of Naturerepresents a major study of an important but neglected subject. It is an important contribution to the study of leisure and recreation in Canada, to the understanding of the character of modernity, and to the history of summer camps.