Burr Oaks Camp: Back to the Future

Above is a photo of my mother (top row, center) and her cabin mates at Burr Oaks Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin. The date is August 1943. Last Friday we picked up my nephew Spencer from the very location this photo was taken 65 summers ago. Burr Oaks was a Jewish girls camp that began in 1928 and closed down some time in the mid-1970s. A few years later it reopened as a co-ed B’nai B’rith camp called Beber using the same beautiful grounds and buildings where my mother spent all her summers during the 1940s.

This was Spencer’s second year at Beber and he loved it. When my sister and I stumbled across the former Burr Oaks Camp two years ago after dropping Spencer off at a different camp nearby, we were flabbergasted that we found it and amazed that we recognized so many things from my late mother’s stories and photos. My mother had frequently talked about her years at Burr Oaks, but we never knew where it was or if the grounds still existed. When we got back to Chicago, I wrote a post mentioning the camp and was delighted to hear from a bunch of former Burr Oaks campers and counselors. I’ve even met some of them since then who shared with me their memorabilia from the camp. It seemed like a really special place. As I said in my previous post, my mother spoke often of the theatrical elements of Burr Oaks, including the night they would wake campers each summer and herd them to an open area where they would somehow project fairies dancing in the trees.

While there last Friday, we ran into Jennifer, one of the former campers I met through my blog whose kids go there now. The old Burr Oaks slogan, Lo-He-Ha (for Love, Health, and Happiness), is still visible throughout the camp along with the acorn motif. I remember my mother talking about Memory Hall which is now Crown Hall but is otherwise unchanged. We walked the 72 steps that my mother told us about and we gazed at beautiful Lake Beulah which is still there in all its glory, with the Beber kids doing many of the water sports the Burr Oaks girls did so long ago.

Most of my mother’s time at Burr Oaks took place during World War II. As I study the photos of the smiling Jewish girls lined up in their beautifully pressed white Burr Oaks uniforms (who would put active summer campers in clean white uniforms?), I can’t help but think of their counterparts in Europe during those same summers—girls who who looked just like them and came from the same well-off families but who were now being herded into crowded ghettos and then shipped off to Nazi death camps. Oy, I grant you that’s an abrupt transition from a happy reminiscence of summer camp, but it’s impossible for me to see those dates on the photos and not think of what was happening to the Jewish girls in Europe while my mother and her friends were singing camp songs in Mukwonago. I wonder if there was any awareness at the camp about what was going on in the world at that time. I’m sure they discussed the war at length, but did the girls know what was happening to the Jews of Europe?

As I looked at the photos posted daily of Spencer and his buddies over the past four weeks, I marveled at the team spirit and at all the fun the kids were having. I had my usual wistful thoughts about never having attended summer camp but then I started thinking that as great as it looked, I don’t think I was cut out for such camps at all. As much as I always long to be part of some idealized fantasy of community, I also carry major fears about groupness in general. To me, any large group of people united in purpose or belief or interest, whether it’s a crowd of campers at Burr Oaks or Beber, a gaggle of supporters at an Obama rally, a sold out stadium watching a Cubs game, or an audience full of enthusiastic Wilco fans, they always seem like they are two steps away from mob rule, capable of crushing anything in their path and losing their individual identities as they blindly follow whatever the group is commanded to do. What is wrong with me? Why do I simultaneously fear and crave being part of a group? Nothing grosses me out more than the chanting at political rallies or sports events, no matter what side I’m on. I always feel like I’m at a Hitler Youth Camp or Nazi rally, being indoctrinated into some larger cause that requires me to abandon my free will.

I know this is not what’s happening at most summer camps, certainly not at Burr Oaks or Beber, two institutions that are incredibly beloved by former campers across the globe, and yet I don’t think I could ever have fully embraced the group spirit that would have been necessary for me to get the most out of that experience. I admire people like my nephew who truly understand the proper ethos of summer camp, but I think I am more like the old high school classmate I was talking to yesterday about the cliques we belonged to back in the day. “I only belonged to one clique,” she told me. “It was called the Anti-Social Club. We had no meetings.” At last—my people!

Lo-he-ha!

Comments

[Tamara]

HI there,

This was a lovely memory of your mother, a lovely gift to your children, and somber at the same time. I lost my mother less than two years ago and just this summer I visited my own childhood summer camp. Although our stories are quite different, going to camp reminds me of my mom too. It reminds me of her letters, the care packages, etc. I was picturing you stumbling on this camp and imagining your emotions.

I'm a HUGE supporter of Jewish summer camps. Even 21 years later, camp is still an important part of who I am. My husband didn't have the chance to do Jewish summer camp, and like you, it so wasn't his thing.

I actually just did a post on our visit, here's the link if you're interested:
http://jewsbychoice.org/2008/08/04/a-day-at-jewish-camp-fun-even-for-grownups/

[Gordon]

Maybe you could go back and put a caption beneath those pictures to identify the people or describe the scene ?

[Danny]

Well, the black and white pictures all show my mother at Burr Oaks. I don't know who that boy is with my mom in the fifth photo but that's my grandmother with my mom at the bottom. In the color pictures, that's my sister with my nephews in the fourth photo (standing under the Lo-He-Ha carving in Crown Hall), and the second set are all my nephew Spencer with his camp friends.

The totem pole is no longer there but everything else looks pretty much the same. They told us on Friday, however, that they're going to have to knock down some of the older buildings before next summer because a few of them are not in good shape. That's a shame, it's really cool seeing all the remnants of the old Burr Oaks.

[churlita]

I was a ghetto kid, so I never went to camp. But when I had children, I discovered this thing called a scholarship. So, both of my girls went and absolutely loved camp for several Summers.

[david]

Always love seeing Spencer and Gabe together.

[sandy k. martin]

What a wonderful reminiscence. You are part of BOC family without having to participate in all the cheering and togetherness of young girls!

As I got older, I have often thought about the parallel of BOC and concentration camps for Jewish girls. Yet it was not part of my consciousness as a camper or young adult. I began BOC in 1949, after the war, but not too long after!

There was one song written by campers during the war in 1944 (your mom's era) which we all sang and loved (my favorite!):

While camping together in the year '44.
We dreamt neath the stars of the end of the war.
We prayed that our campfires would light up the world,
With the banner of hope that our youth had unfurled.
We pray to LoHeHa that war shall be over and all soldier boys shall return home again.
And mankind shall dwell in the sunlight of freedom....
With Peace on earth, goodwill towards man for ever more.

The words are from my memory, so the song may be a little off, but the impact then and NOW is still here. This would be a great song for everyone to know as war is constant unfortunately! You said it so well: American Jewish girls camps and German concentration camps happening at the same time!

Sue looks like your Mom. It's a wonderful presentation with your vivid photos. Were you aware of Memory Hall burning down in the 50's and having to rebuild the new building with metal (I think). Uncle Bill lost all the costumes in the fire...all the fairy costumes! Oy!

Warmly and LoHeHa,
Sandy

[Gordon]

Danny ?!
You have got to write about "If Walls Could Talk !"
I started watching the show, and when the host said your and Kendall's names, I said, "I know them !" It was a fun show, and I feel like I got to meet both of you.
Thanks,
Gordon

[sandy]

Danny, I don't want you to think campers wore white 'outfits' all the time! Only at Friday night meals and Sundays, probably when most photos were taken. All other days for activities they wore blue 'outfits' which were always getting dirty! And on Thursday nights for the WaDaHo Island suppers campers could wear their regular clothes. It's been a very long time since I've thought about this!

[denise brown]

dear danny,

i was so floored by your mention of our Jewish sisters in europe under hitler's insanity.

"...but it’s impossible for me to see those dates on the photos and not think of what was happening to the Jewish girls in Europe while my mother and her friends were singing camp songs in Mukwonago."

my mother and i have begun a spontaneous family photo scanning project this summer, and just a couple of weeks ago, while e-mailing a photo of my grandmother and mother taken outside a photographer's studio in north texas during the early 1940s [to my friend], virtually that same sentiment struck me. my grandmother's and mother's obvious Semitic (Ashkenazi) appearance would have almost certainly "sentenced" them to a horrific outcome---it's simply unmistakable---and oh, LORD, what would have become of them had they simply been across an ocean?

it's pretty staggering to consider the soberness that supposition/consideration sets forth. yes, staggering.

i wrote my friend the following message on 29 July 2008,

[Here] is "a photo of my precious Jewish grandmother, Exie Viola (Carmichael) Simpson & my mother, Sylvia (Simpson) Brown---had they been in europe at this time, they would have been under dire threat of hitler and his nazi regime, for sure. mind-boggling. across an ocean in america---safety. on the european continent---almost certain demise. again, mind-boggling."

thanks, for allowing me to share this with you.

greetings from austin, texas,
denise brown

[marsha fineberg]

Danny, what a coincidence to discover that my grandson was at Beber Bnai Brith Camp with Judy Miller s grandson...My grandson is two years younger than Spencer but he did know him...I hope my friend, Judy, knows this and once again, she & I are connected..It really is a "beshert" kind of thing.........love to all, marsha

[Elaine Soloway]

Can I join your group? Or does my desire to join mean I'm automatically not a fit?

Hmmm...

[Jane]

Danny, like you I never got to go to camp, so when Elisabeth turned 10, I immediately signed her up -- and she went for the next four summers. I got the second-hand camping experience and knew, KNEW, I would have been a camp failure! So much joining to do! So many people to get to know! I would have come home weighing 240 pounds after stress-eating my way through the social experience.

Your stories are always amazing to me, and your memory for details and events is a rare gift. I really hope you write a book one day.

[Judy]

I was an abject failure at Camp Lakota in Masten Lake, sullivan county, new york...about 20 min away from where my country house is. I went back a couple of years ago..just to see if it existed. It did ...except the big aerial photo of all us campers was no longer in the camp office. Several years ago, campers from my era loved the camp so much, they bought it as the ads said. I was curious if they still were there. Well part were as the one partner I most wanted to see had left. I asked if the Pine Forest had really burned and was told it was sill there. There was no time to see it.. the camp was open. I remember those 2 summers sitting amidst the pines trees and sometimes crying my eyes out...in misery for being such an outcaste...i looked way too young and was not as mature as the other girls..delayed adolescense ... totally clueless about managing my hair ,and quite chubby, never mind putting on make up...oy vey...What total bitches they were!!!

[Dorise]

As someone who stumbled on your blog in a google search on Wilco and as a Jew myself, I have been enjoying your tales quite immensely. Also, I was pretty stoked to find your writing on Wisconsin summer camps. As it happens, one of my friends is the program director at camp Beber, and another one of my friends was one of Spencer's counselors. As a 'Sconnie myself and a BBYO alum, I've been to the Beber grounds twice for different retreats - it really is a great camp, and I'm glad your nephew has been enjoying it!

As for camp Ojibwa, which was mentioned in your original camp post - I had suspicions from the pictures that it had turned into Camp Interlaken, a co-ed Jewish camp also in Eagle River, but it looks like Ojibwa is still alive and kicking. Who knew Eagle River would be big enough for two camps? I thought it would be more like Ramah in Conover, WI - there, the population of the camp is essentially the population of the city. It's true that Wisconsin has a number of camps throughout the state, but the Jewish ones have mostly ditched the Indian themes (Interlaken, Ramah, Young Judaea, Shalom, Beber, etc.) The goyish camps still have Indian names, though - one of the most popular choices for Milwaukeeans being Camp Minikani. When you think about it, though, most of the towns in Wisco are also Indian words - (Willard Scott trying to pronounce "Oconomowoc" is one of the most hilarious things I've heard). I'm not sure what it is about Wisconsin and summer camps in general - they seem to have quite the monopoly nestled in podunk areas. Doesn't the rest of America have farmland?

[roxy keeshin odom]

when did your mom go to camp. did you go also? my mom did and i have been looking for old campers from my moms day. my email is rko10@stic.net
i went to boc approx from 1956 to 1962
my mom went approx from 1935 for approx 7 yrs......we think..........ps. i live now in san antonio.....originally from chicago.

[denise]

my message above was for Denise in Austin. forgive me everyone i still havent figured out the correct way to post.

[roxy keeshin odom]

looking how to contact wendy spector eisenberg. i think her mom also was a camper during my years. cannot figure out how to email you wendy. my email rko10@stic.net

[Margaret Kriegbaum Pogue]

I was a counselor at Burr Oaks in 1959. I boarded a train in Cincinnati with 7 little girls and we headed west to Chicago where we joined many campers from various US cities. Then 199 campers and 50 counselors were off to Mukwonago. It was a wonderful experience working at Burr Oaks. I particularly remember a 9 year old named Judy Adams from Cincinnati-would love to hear from her. I hope to see the grounds this summer when I'm in Wisconsin.

[Jarden]

My kids attend Beber and we loved seeing the old pictures. Don't know what the girls in the 1940's knew about what was going on in Europe but Beber today has Holocaust survivors talk to the kids every year and last year one told the kids that they were the last generation of children who could hear survivor's stories in person and it was their duty to carry those stories into the future (and some people think Summer Camp is just about learning to water ski!)

As for the commentor who was suprised that Eagle River Wisconsin was big ennough for two camps...honey there are close to a dozen up there now!

[barbara barton]

i am aformer boc camper from 1952 to 1958 i live in dyer indiana and i would like to correspond with ladies who went to camp i am 65 years old but still have wonderful memories of my camp days barbara barton bbarton44@aol.com

[joyce mannheimer brodsky]

i had wonderful summers at boc. i am looking foward to the reunion.i was 9 years old and i went to camp until i was 13. i am now 67 and i think about those wonderful years.joycebrodsky@me.com......my maiden was mannheimer and i live in highland park, il.

[David Polan]

Dear Danny,
Just to let you know that once a camper always a camper, Burr Oaks Camp alumnae are organizing a reunion for all campers from 1929 through 1975 to be held in October 2010. As I understand it, there have been well over 300 responses.

[Arshia Javaherian]

I was a camper at Beber in the '80s and I remember they had an old Burr Oaks truck, era 1940's that still worked, didn't see it in the '90s, but could still be there. Good memories.

[Jeanie Silver]

My grandparents, Jenny and Bill Rice owned Burr Oaks and my mother Jacquelyn Rice was married there on August 20, 1942 to my father, Milton Silverstein (which became Silver).

They were married by Rabbi Jacob Singer. Does anyone know anything about him? I am trying to get information about their Jewish names.

Thank you,
Jeanie Silver

[Randey Foss Grossman]

I went to Burr Oaks for 2 summers. I think it was 1965 & 1966. Those were the best summers of my life. I thought it was magical. It was confirmed when I attended the reunion last month. Every one of those campers felt the same. We still had our mementos of BOC. I had my artisan necklace and most of the others had kept parts of camp with them through all of the years. What a special place! We were fortunate.