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Porter Sargent's A Handbook of Summer Camps

An Annual Survey | Twelfth Edition | 1935

Porter Sargent, prominent educational critic and founder of Porter Sargent Publishers in Boston in 1915, released a series of handbooks for summer camps. In 1949, he was described as "probably the most outstanding and consistent critic of the American educational scene.”

The 1935 edition of A Handbook for Summer Camp includes a significant increase in art and crafts. Compared to the 1926 edition, this handbook contained explicit arts and crafts content, including a “Craftive Activities” section, “Camps Emphasizing Arts and Crafts” list featured in the “Camps to Fill Special Needs” section and an expansion of listings under the “Arts and Crafts Materials” section. There was also an increase in the number of camps that included “Arts and Crafts” or other related terms in the individual camp listings from a wider range of states. There also was a strong shift to include co-ed camps and younger campers, ages 3-10, in these programs, as opposed to the 1926 edition, where girls' camps for children ages 11-14 dominated.

View the data collected from A Handbook for Summer Camp (1935) below:

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Figure 1: Creative Activities excerpt from The Sargent Handbooks: A HANDBOOK OF SUMMER CAMPS AN ANNUAL SURVEY (1935) 

Handbook Data

Percentage of camps listed containing "Arts and crafts" or other related terms (see below), The Sargent Handbooks: A HANDBOOK OF SUMMER CAMPS AN ANNUAL SURVEY (1935) compared to the 1926 edition.

Terms Used in Camp Descriptions

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Note: Out of 231 camps containing "Arts and crafts" and related terms 

Camps Per State

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Note: Out of 232 camps containing "Arts and crafts" and related terms 

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Camp Gender/Sex Demographics

Percentage of camper gender/sex accepted in the 231 camps containing "Arts and crafts" or other related terms (1935) compared to the 1926 edition.

*Not shown:  Age 18+ and Age Group Unavailable 

Average Age of Camper

Average of campers accepted in the 231 camps containing "Arts and crafts" or other related terms (1935) compared to the 1926 edition.

*Not shown:  Age 18+ (2 camps) and Age Group Unavailable (21 camps)

Top 5 Most Popular Activities

1926

1935

Top activities listed in 231 camp descriptions follow the previously mentioned Terms Used in Camp Descriptions (1935) compared to the 1926 edition.

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