The University of Michigan Fresh Air Camp was started in 1921 by Lewis Reimann and Thomas Evans, the former of whom served as the camp's first director. The camp began as a volunteer driven organization of students involved with the Student Christian Association, with the goal of providing outdoor experience to underprivileged, mostly urban youth. For the first three years, the camp was held in different locations, but in 1924, through a gift of Virginia Ives, it acquired a permanent site on Patterson Lake near Pinckney, Michigan.
The camp served dual purposes of providing an atmosphere for difficult youth to learn and grow and a place for university students, who would serve as counselors, to practice skills in education, psychology, social work, and related fields. In 1937, the university began offering Summer Session graduate courses through the camp, and in 1944 the camp was accepted by the Board of Regents. Upon entering into university jurisdiction, the camp was administratively housed within the Institute for Human Adjustment and remained there into the 1960s when it moved into the School of Education.
Within the School of Education, the camp began to focus more on mentally handicapped children. Under the direction of Matthew Trippe and Raymond Elliot, both faculty members of the School of Education, the Fresh Air Camp secured a grant through the Federal Education Professions Development Act, which they used to further study the education of "exceptional children." The camp often served as the subject for advanced research studies in adolescent education and psychology and continued to provide the opportunity for both graduate and undergraduate students to work with "at risk" children and gain experience within their chosen field. Although the Fresh Air Camp changed administrative and educational focus through its years of operation under the School of Education, the camp remained committed to its goal of providing a safe, fun, and friendly environment in which its campers could learn and grow.
From the guide to the Fresh Air Camp (University of Michigan) Records, 1922-1979, 1967-1972, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)
