A Collection of Seven Letters on Keewaydin Camp Letterheads from a Father to his Son, during his Freshman Year at Harvard University

George W. Creelman

Published by Keewaydin Camps Limited Partnership, Lakeville, CT, 1932

About this Item

George W. Creelman (1872-1951) was the Vice President of the Keewaydin Camps, as well as the Master of Mathematics at Hotchkiss School, a private high school in Lakeville, CT. This collection features seven letters written by him, to his son, Brenton "Brent" W. Creelman (1912-1944), during Brent's freshman year at Harvard University. The letters discuss Brent's courses and grades (he had trouble in Economics), job offers (at Sears Rosenbuck (sic) and the Peabody Museum), various sites his father enjoyed during his time at Harvard (such as the Glass Flowers Collection), Brent's finances and allowance ($50 per 10 weeks), and the updates on their friends and family. Two of the later letters are addressed to a nickname for Brenton, Crelque. The letters are dated from October 1931 to February 1932, and are written on stationary that reflects George W. Creelman's careers both at Keewaydin Camps and Hotchkiss School, however the majority of the letterhead focuses on the summer camp. The top features a small green border of a silhouette of a forest and mountain with the logo for the camps - a moose inside an orange and green triangle - in the center. Below that is the camps director name, John H. Rush, and the locations of the various camps that comprised Keewaydin Camps, three for boys and three for girls. Under that is George's name, title, and address, at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. At the base of the letterhead is three scenes, done again in green ink. The scene on the left features a group of boys camping by a shore with tents and one pushing a canoe out into the lake. The center image shows a man on a horse with a mountain vista behind him. The last image on the right shows a group of boys paddling three canoes on a lake. This includes Creelman's camp on Devil's Island, and it is now known as Keewaydin Temagami. Seven (7) single and double sided letters on Camp Keewaydin stationary. Measures 11" x 8 1/2". To view the collection, please click on the following link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/EyqjiUA3eJ8Kfqzw8. The Keewaydin Camps themselves are among the oldest summer camps in America having been established in 1893 by A. S. Gregg Clarke, whose camp nickname was "The Commodore". As the original site for the camp grew to be crowded and as Clarke felt, too near civilization, he gradually expanded his camps to include several different locations, all over American and Canada. Furthermore Clarke also extended the memberships to the camps from men, to also eventually include young boys and eventually girls as well. By the 1920s, the camps were run by a Board of Directors, of which included George W. Creelman, under the name of Keewaydin Camps Limited Partnership. Creelman himself would also serve as Vice President of the Limited Partnership for several years, (during which time the correspondence takes place in). As a Vice President, like many of the man important to the running of the camps, Creelman was given a nickname, the "Colonel". By 1938 the camps were so numerous and the board so large with very diverging interests, that it was agreed upon that they should be disbanded with many of the camps being purchased by individual camp directors or board members. This is what Creelman and his business partner William K. "Major" Gunn did for the camp on Devil's Island, by Lake Temagami (spelled Timagami on the letterhead), which was one of the original camps purchased by Clarke. Eventually Creelman and Gunn would sell the camp in in 1947 to other members of the original board. Although many of the camps under the original banner of Keewaydin Camps folded over the years, those still in business in 2002, reunited under one corporation, the Keewaydin Foundation, and are still in existence today. George Willis Creelman was born on October 1872 in Nova Scotia, Canada to John Dennis Creelman (1844-1898) and Rachel Brenton (1852-1938). He had three siblings Gilmore Brenton Creelman (1877-1967), Arthur Bradford Creelman (1881-1949) an. Seller Inventory # 29001800

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Collection of Seven Letters on Keewaydin ...

Publisher: Keewaydin Camps Limited Partnership, Lakeville, CT

Publication Date: 1932