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Camp Fire USA

Camp Fire USA, originally Camp Fire Girls of America,

is a nationwide American youth organization that began in1910.[1]The organization has been co-ed since 1975[1] and

welcomes youth from pre-kindergarten through age 21.

Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural

organization for girls in America.[2]

 Its programs

emphasize camping and other outdoor activities for youth.

Its informal roots extend back to 1910, with efforts by Mrs.

Charles Farnsworth in Thetford, Vermont and Luther

GulickM.D. and his wife Charlotte Vedder Gulick

on Sebago Lake, near South Casco, Maine.[3][4]

 Camp

Fire Girls, as it was known at the time, was created as thesister organization to the Boy Scouts of America.

[5] The

organization changed its name in 1975 to Camp Fire

Boys and Girls when membership eligibility was

expanded to include boys. In 2001, the current name,

Camp Fire USA, was adopted.[6]

 

Camp Fire's programs, including small group

experiences, after-school programs, camping and

environmental education, child care and service learning,

build confidence in younger children and provide hands-

on, youth driven leadership experiences for older youth.

History

Camp Fire Stamp

In 1910, young girls in Thetford, Vermont, watched their brothers, friends, and

schoolmates  – all Boy Scouts  – practice their parts in the community's 150th

anniversary, which would be celebrated the following summer. The pageant'sorganizer, William Chauncey Langdon, promised the girls that they, too, would

have an organized role in the pageant, although no organization such as Boy

Scouts existed then for girls. Langdon consulted with Mrs. Charles Farnsworth,

preceptress of Horace Mann School near Thetford, Vermont. Both approached

Luther Halsey Gulick M.D.[7] about creating a national organization for girls. Gulick

introduced the idea to friends, among them G. Stanley Hall, Ernest Thompson

Seton, and James West, executive secretary of the Boy Scouts.[8]

 After many

discussions and help from Gulick and his wife Charlotte, Langdon named the

group of Thetford girls the Camp Fire Girls.[9]

 

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Also in 1910, the Gulicks established Camp WoHeLo, a camp for girls, on Lake Sebago, near South

Casco, Maine. There were seventeen WoHeLo maidens at the camp in the summer of 1910.[3]

 Both

the Vermont group and the Maine group would lead to the creation of the organization formally

organized as Camp Fire Girls in 1912.

On March 22, 1911 Dr. Gulick organized a meeting "To consider ways and means of doing for the girls

what the Boy Scout movement is designed to do for the boys". On April 10, 1911 James E.

West issued a press release from Boy Scouts of America headquarters announcing that with the

success of the Boy Scout movement a group of preeminent New York men and women were

organizing a group to provide outdoor acitivites for girls, similar to those in the Boy Scout movement.

Camp Fire Girls of America was incorporated in Washington, D.C, as a national agency on March 17,

1912.

By December 1913, Camp Fire Girls' membership was an estimated 60,000, many of whom began

attending affiliated summer camps.[8]

 The Bluebird program was introduced that year for younger girls,offering exploration of ideas and creative play built around family and community.

[10] In 1989 the

Bluebirds became Starflight.

The first official Camp Fire handbook was published in 1914.[11]

 During World War I Camp Fire Girls

helped to sell over one million dollars in Liberty Bonds and over $900,000 in Thrift Stamps; 55,000

girls helped to support French and Belgian orphans, and an estimated 68,000 girls earned honors by

conservation of food.[12]

 

The first local Camp Fire council was formed in 1918 in Kansas City, Mo. Later in 1977 Kansas City

would become the national headquarters for Camp Fire.

Camp Fire celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1960 with the "She Cares ... Do You?" program. Duringthe project, Camp Fire planted more than two million trees, built 13,000 bird houses, and completed

several other conservation-oriented tasks. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Camp Fire

Girls, in connection with their Golden Jubilee Convention celebration, a stamp designed by H. Edward

Oliver was issued featuring the Camp Fire Girls insignia.[13]

 A new program, Junior Hi, wherein twelve-

and thirteen-year-old girls explore new interests as a group and as individuals was created in 1962.

This program name changed later to Discovery.[14]

 That same year, the WoHeLo medallion became

Camp Fire's highest achievement and honor.

In 1969, Camp Fire Girls were allowed to be "Participants" in BSA's Explorer Posts (for boys 14 and

older). This arrangement ended in 1971, when the BSA made Explorers a co-ed program.

Membership was at 274,000 by 1974 in 1,300 communities of the United States.

[15]

 Camp Fireexpanded its horizons in 1975, welcoming boys to participate in all Camp Fire activities.

[16] While boys

were invited to Camp Fire Girls Horizon Conferences in the late 1960s and early 1970s, official

membership was not offered them until 1975, when the organization became coeducational. Camp

Fire decided boys and girls should be together in one organization, so they learn to play and work

alongside each other and appreciate their similarities and differences in positive ways. Thus they

understand that people from either gender can be their teachers, coworkers, supervisors, confidantes,

coaches, and friends.[17]

 

In 1977, Camp Fire's head office moved to Kansas City from New York,[18]

 where it is still located

today. Teens in Action was introduced in 1988 as a one-time social issue campaign to energize the

older teen program. Today Teens in Action, Camp Fire USA's service –

learning program for teens,serves over 60,000 teens.

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The first Absolutely Incredible Kid Day , a call to action for all adults to communicate through letters

their love and commitment to children, took place in 1997. In 2003 to further its commitment and

inclusiveness, Camp Fire USA began translating its curricula to Spanish. As a way to excite and

educate children in Pre-K, the Little Stars program was introduced in 2005. Designated for ages 3 –

5 Little Stars builds confidence and a sense of belonging in children.

Camping for girls is also the philanthropy that all Gamma Phi Beta sororities volunteer towards.

Programs

Camp Fire USA has five nationally developed youth development programs that are delivered through

145 local and statewide councils and community partners across the nation. Programs are specific to

community need and some may not be available in all communities. The five outcome based program

areas include: Small-Group Clubs and Mentoring Opportunities; Leadership Development; Camping

and Environmental Education; Child Care; and Self- Reliance and Service –Learning Classes.[19]

 

[edit]Small-group clubs

Boys and girls usually meet once a week for an hour, learning to work and play together through

service projects.[20]

 Camp Fire USA has numerous youth-development programs that are delivered

through 145 local and statewide councils and community partners. With Small-Group Clubs and

Mentoring Opportunities, boys and girls usually meet once a week for an hour, learning to work and

play together through service projects.

The program levels are:

  Little Stars is for children ages three through five and provides parents and preschool youth with

a quality, program-driven playgroup that gives them the opportunity to learn, grow and play.

  Starflight program is for boys and girls in kindergarten through second grade. The children meet

regularly in adult supervised clubs. Meeting activities can focus on the areas of outdoors,

creativity, service, acquiring new skills, learning more about themselves and getting along with

others.

  Adventure Program is for boys and girls in third through fifth grade. Adventure members earn

Action Crafts beads for all the new things they do and for the good habits they learn. At this level

youth begin to accept more responsibility for choosing and planning their club activities.

  Discovery is for sixth through eighth grades. It gives young people an opportunity to explore new

interesting fields. Club members do much of their own planning and decision making, with theadult leader functioning more as an advisor than a supervisor. This is also when Camp Fire youth

are eligible to make and wear ceremonial attire, often gowns or tunics, which are worn only at

Camp Fire ceremonials.

  Horizon is for high school age youth in grades nine through twelve. These young people

participate in self-guided programs geared toward preparing them for adult responsibilities and

community service. Members may earn the WoHeLo Award.