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Our
History
 Camp
Fire is one of the oldest private youth service agencies in the
United States. Camp Fire Girls was founded in 1910 by Dr. Luther
Gulick, his wife Charlotte Vetter Gulick and a group of professional
men and women in the fields of education, recreation, health and
human relations. What began as a summer camp on Lake Sebago in
Maine would become the nation's first camp for girls, and serve as
the foundation for this country's first non secretional program
designed specifically for girls.
The Gulicks built a
program for their unique camp based on the principle of developing
"whole" girls, just as Boy Scouts structured its program to develop
well balanced young men. The Gulicks believed in love and
happiness, in work and responsibility and in earning one's way.
They endorsed the idea that constructive work created the roots of
true service to humanity and a genuine joy of living, thus
establishing Camp Fire's pledge to ''give service." Based on this
philosophy, the Gulicks renamed their camp WoHeLo, a union of Work,
Health and Love that constructively developed the body, mind and
spirit of girls. Since the establishment of Camp WoHeLo-Sebago in
1910, Camp Fire has constructed and maintained a strong tradition of
empowering youth to become responsible, contributing citizens with
positive self esteem.
The earliest known
Camp Fire groups in the metropolitan Atlanta area were organized
through churches in 1915; the first, the Cherokee Camp Fire Group in
Clarkston, was lead by Mrs. Tom Jolly and the second, lead by Mrs.
William E. Hill, formed in the West End Presbyterian Church.
Similar church based groups were formed across the city as the need
for Camp Fire service increased. Camp Fire Girls, Atlanta Area was
chartered on November 2, 1923 by the National Organization to
promote and supervise Camp Fire Girls programs in the metropolitan
Atlanta area. Fourteen prominent Atlanta citizens organized the
first Board of Directors with Dr. Harvey Cox, then president of
Emory University, presiding.
One of the original
charter directors, Mrs. Thomas R. Brooke, is credited with locating
the site for a girls camp in North Georgia. Mrs. Brooke's search
began in 1923 and concluded with the purchase of three parcels of
land in Toccoa in 1926. The first group of girls to stay at the
camp named her "best mother." She is now considered the "mother of
Camp Toccoa."
Camp Fire remained
an organization whose membership was restricted to girls until the
1970s when the National Council restructured itself under the
philosophy of a New Day. Local councils across the country
recognized the need for Camp Fire's unique curriculum for both girls
and boys and began to respond accordingly by adapting and creating
methods of delivering the program to all youth. Camp Fire's
National Council opened membership to boys in 1975; the Georgia
Council began coeducational programming in the years to follow. The
new Camp Fire Boys and Girls and the effect of these changes
empowered the Georgia Council to assess the special needs of this
community and develop programming suitable for addressing these
needs.
Today, Camp Fire USA
serves more than 600,000 youths nationally, regardless of race,
creed, religion and economic level. The Georgia Council serves more
than 4,000 youth annually.
One of Camp Fire USA
greatest strengths is its ability to anticipate, plan and adapt to
change. So many people fondly remember the Camp Fire of their
childhood -- a youth service organization that was a growing,
dynamic force in the community. However, tradition and ways of
doing things that were effective 30 or even 15 years ago are not
working today. Today's children are confronted with violence, crime
and poverty in ways unlike any generation before.
Camp Fire USA is
changing and adapting older programs and creating new ones to
constructively help kids manage today's issues. Camp Fire is
serving boys and girls in their communities -- in classrooms,
day care centers, neighborhood recreation centers -- where children
exist both physically and emotionally. Camp Fire is working with
youth to form partnerships with adult mentors, empowering them to
impact relevant issues. Camp Fire successfully incorporates
necessary change into its programming, while continuing the best of
tradition, encouraging creative expression and appreciation of the
world, promoting citizenship, giving service and building
self-reliance. |
