What would become Camp Larson began in the summer of 1950, when Washington State University and the State Society for Crippled Children and Adults sponsored a summer camp at an Episcopal Church Camp located at Point McDonald on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The camp was named Camp Manitowish (or Manitou-Wish), and Roger Larson and Ruth Radir were co-directors. In 1955, WSU purchased 40 acres on Cottonwood Bay (still on Lake Coeur d’Alene), and the camp was moved there, to what would become its permanent home. The Manitowish name was lost in the move, and the new location was known as Camp Easter Seal, which had been an unofficial second name in the earlier location. In 1977 the name was officially changed to Camp WSU, and in 1980 it was named Camp Larson following founder Roger Larson’s retirement. Use of the camp subsequently decreased over the years, and despite a push for renewed usage in the late 1990s, WSU closed the camp in 2003 and sold it the following year.
The collection consists primarily of photographs of activities, attendees, and personnel at Camp Manitowish and Camp Easter Seal (later Camp Larson), a WSC-sponsored campus for handicapped children, located on the west shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The majority of the images are unlabeled and undated. They appear to have been collected by Roger Larson, but were created by any number of photographers for WSC/WSU.
The majority of the images are loose, unlabeled, and undated, and those comprise the first two folders, sorted solely by size. Following those are twenty sheets of labeled but undated contact sheets, and following those are chronological sets of images, most of which had originally been in photo albums. At the end of the collection are three small folders of images which appear to be on the WSU campus, and unrelated to Camp Larson.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply.
[Item description]
Washington State University Camp Larson Photographs, 1950-1965 (PC 199)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Margi Vogel, a daughter of Roger Larson, donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries on Sept. 17, 2021, where they were retained as UPC 2021-03. The materials has been in the keeping of her sister Christine Larson, who had passed away in May.
University archivist Mark O’English processed this collection in January, 2022. Several photo albums in generic three-ring binders were unbound, and the binders discarded.
Washington State University Camp Larson Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1950-1997
Preliminary Guide to the Roger C. Larson Papers, circa 1946-1980
Scattered Camp Larson materials exists in other collections related to Washington State University.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.