Guide to the Washington State University Camp Larson Scrapbooks and Photographs 1950-1997
PC 172

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Title
Washington State University Camp Larson Scrapbooks and Photographs
ID
PC 172
Date [inclusive]
1950-1997
Extent
2 Linear feet of shelf space, 3 Boxes
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Scrapbooks and photographs of Camp Larson, a WSU-run summer camp for individuals with disabilities on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]

Washington State University Camp Larson Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1950-1997 (PC 172)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

What would become Camp Larson began in the summer of 1950, when Washington State University and the State Society for Crippled Children and Adults sponsored a summer camp at an Episcopal Church Camp located at Point McDonald on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The camp was named Camp Manitowish (or Manitou-Wish), and Roger Larson and Ruth Radir were co-directors. In 1955, WSU purchased 40 acres on Cottonwood Bay (still on Lake Coeur d’Alene), and the camp was moved there, to what would become its permanent home. The Manitowish name was lost in the move, and the new location was known as Camp Easter Seal, which had been an unofficial second name in the earlier location. In 1977 the name was officially changed to Camp WSU, and in 1980 it was named Camp Larson following founder Roger Larson’s retirement. Use of the camp subsequently decreased over the years, and despite a push for renewed usage in the late 1990s, WSU closed the camp in 2003 and sold it the following year.

Many terms historically used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities are offensive and were used to dismiss, discount and dehumanize these individuals and communities. Terms often focused on a perceived impairment and not the person. MASC recognizes the harm caused by these terms. We retain the language in this finding aid to document history and preserve context.

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Scope and Content

The collection is primarily photographic images of Camp Larson (previously Camp Easter Seal), a summer camp for children with disabilities held each summer at grounds fronting the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The images run from 1950 up to 1997, and depict camp-goers, facilities, activities, counselors, and various elements of life at the summer camp. Additionally two scrapbooks primarily containing newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other printed artifacts cover 1950-1958 and 1962 to 1989.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three separate series, determined by format and each comprising one box. Series (box) 1 contains the two scrapbooks, maintained in the condition they were transferred to MASC. Series 2 is negatives and photographic prints, organized chronologically, with a quantity of undated/unidentified materials at the end. Series 3 is slides, with a few subject based slide sets at the front, followed, by the mass of the materials in chronological order.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2018

https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Acquisition Information

These materials were transferred to the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) on July 26, 2018 by Jeanne Therrien of WSU’s College of Education, and retained as UA 2018-08.

Processing Information

The Camp Larson materials were processed in July, 2018 by University Archivist Mark O’English. The slides and photographs were reorganized in processing; about 2/3 of the photographic prints were discarded due to a lack of either dates or identification. In the case of the slides, only a representative sampling was retained within each year.

In 2022, in response to evolving standards regarding the language used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities, Gayle O’Hara revised this finding aid.

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Related Materials

Related Material

Washington State University Camp Larson Photographs, 1950-1965 (PC 199)

Preliminary Guide to the Roger C. Larson Papers, circa 1946-1980 (MS 1985.33)

Scattered Camp Larson materials exists in other collections related to Washington State University.

Separated Material

The original accession of materials was somewhat varied:

Oversized maps, plans, and drawings of Camp Larson were moved to the Architectural Drawings of Washington State University Campus Buildings, 1899-1975 (Archives 215).

A series of Phi Epsilon Kappa (a physical education honorary) papers currently remain unprocessed as UA2018-08.

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Washington State University. Camp Larson. -- Photographs.
  • Washington State University. Camp Easter Seal. -- Photographs.
  • State College of Washington. Camp Easter Seal. -- Photographs.
Creator(s) :
  • Washington State University. Camp Larson.
  • Washington State University. Camp Easter Seal.
  • State College of Washington. Camp Easter Seal.

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Larson, Roger C., 1918-1980.

Subject(s)

  • Camps -- Idaho -- Coeur d'Alene Lake -- Photographs
  • Photographs
  • Idaho
  • Colleges and Universities

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Detailed Description of Collection

Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1950-1989 

box folder

Scrapbook, 1950-1958 

1 1

Scrapbook, 1962-1989 

1 2

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Series 2: Negatives & Photographic Prints, 1951-1997 

box folder

1951 

2 1

1952 

2 2

1953 

2 3

1954 

2 4

1956 

2 5

1957 

2 6

1958 

2 7

1959 

2 8

1961 

2 9

1966 

2 10

1968 

2 11

1970 

2 12

1978 

2 13

1981 

2 14

1982 

2 15

Remembrances of Camp Larson, May 3, 1997 

2 16

Undated prints 

2 17

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Series 3: Slides, 1950-1991 

box folder

Camp Manitowish / Camp Easter Seal, 1950s 

3 1

Glass slides - Camp Manitowish / McDonalds Point, 1950s 

3 2

Chatcolab, undated 

3 3

Flat Head Bible Camp, undated 

3 4

Presentation: Camp Roger C. Larson, A Place in the Sun, undated 

3 5

McDonald Point, 1950-1951 

3 6

1951 

3 7

1952-1953 

3 8

1954 

3 9

1959 

3 10

1960 

3 11

1961 

3 12

1962 

3 13

1963 

3 14

1964 

3 15

1965 

3 16

1967 

3 17

1968 

3 18

1969 

3 19

1970 

3 20

1972-1973 

3 21

1974 

3 22

Flood, January 1974 

3 23

1975 

3 24

1976 

3 25

1977 

3 26

1978 

3 27

1981 

3 28

1991 

3 29

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