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.
Many terms historically used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities are offensive and were used to dismiss, discount and dehumanize these individuals and communities. Terms often focused on a perceived impairment and not the person. MASC recognizes the harm caused by these terms. We retain the language in this finding aid to document history and preserve context.
The collection is primarily photographic images of Camp Larson (previously Camp Easter Seal), a summer camp for children with disabilities held each summer at grounds fronting the south end of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The images run from 1950 up to 1997, and depict camp-goers, facilities, activities, counselors, and various elements of life at the summer camp. Additionally two scrapbooks primarily containing newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other printed artifacts cover 1950-1958 and 1962 to 1989.
The collection is arranged in three separate series, determined by format and each comprising one box. Series (box) 1 contains the two scrapbooks, maintained in the condition they were transferred to MASC. Series 2 is negatives and photographic prints, organized chronologically, with a quantity of undated/unidentified materials at the end. Series 3 is slides, with a few subject based slide sets at the front, followed, by the mass of the materials in chronological order.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions apply.
[Item Description]
Washington State University Camp Larson Scrapbooks and Photographs, 1950-1997 (PC 172)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
These materials were transferred to the Washington State University Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) on July 26, 2018 by Jeanne Therrien of WSU’s College of Education, and retained as UA 2018-08.
The Camp Larson materials were processed in July, 2018 by University Archivist Mark O’English. The slides and photographs were reorganized in processing; about 2/3 of the photographic prints were discarded due to a lack of either dates or identification. In the case of the slides, only a representative sampling was retained within each year.
In 2022, in response to evolving standards regarding the language used to describe individuals and communities with disabilities, Gayle O’Hara revised this finding aid.
The original accession of materials was somewhat varied:
Oversized maps, plans, and drawings of Camp Larson were moved to the Architectural
Drawings of Washington State University Campus Buildings, 1899-1975
A series of Phi Epsilon Kappa (a physical education honorary) papers currently remain unprocessed as UA2018-08.
Washington State University Camp Larson Photographs, 1950-1965
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.