Today there is concern that schoolchildren eat too many fatty foods, do not get enough exercise, and are subsequently overweight. Center for Disease Control (CDC) data from 2015-2016 shows that nearly 1 in 5 American young people from 6 to 19 years of age are obese.
But during the great depression, the exact opposite was true. From the stock market crash of 1929 through the 1930s into the onset of World War II, skyrocketing unemployment and chronic shortages forced formerly middle-class families into poverty, which escalated malnutrition especially among children and adolescents.
In Augusta County, schools ran out of money and many children and teenagers dropped out of school to seek work. Business owners and parents frequently ignored or intentionally contravened child labor laws in urgent efforts to generate more income and keep food on the table.
Recognizing that malnourishment in children not only made them vulnerable to tuberculosis but contributed to long-term health effects later in life, in June of 1935 the Federal Emergency Relief Association (FERA), along with a group of Augusta County and Staunton volunteers and civic leaders organized a multi-week outdoor summer dietary and sports program for children which came to be known simply as “Nutrition Camp.”
The goal of Nutrition Camp was to provide four or five weeks of nutritious food, rest and supervised outdoor activities for up to 100 local children most in need, as selected by medical personnel within the state department of health, school nurses, the Welfare League and county relief organizations.
In July, Col. T.J. Roller and Major C.S. Roller offered for use their family camp site on Middle River just north of Verona, and volunteers begged, borrowed and scrounged supplies, food and money to get the camp ready.
Then, on July 30, 1935 Nutrition Camp welcomed 37 girls under the supervision of a volunteer director, Eleanor White, three counselors, a nurse and several cooks. Boys were excluded the first year, as the directors felt they already had better access to nutrition and exercise through the YMCA and scouting.
Campers were put on a structured physician-supervised schedule of feeding, outdoor exercise and mandatory rest periods for the 30-day session, with extra servings of whole milk provided between meals to the “gauntest” of the children. Visitors were strictly excluded the first year due to a near-epidemic of infantile paralysis sweeping through Virginia.
That first camp was considered a great success. Mrs. White told the News Leader that “as a result of its careful schedule of feeding and rest, the children show quite satisfactory average gains in weight; between three and four pounds per child for the four or five week period.”
“Of equal importance is their marked improvement in mental and emotional stability,” wrote Mrs. Frank Black, who went on to be director in 1942. “This is brought about by manual training, marching, lessons in health-forming habits and nature study.”
In 1936 Nutrition Camp informally became known as Camp Augusta, and received a much-needed $3,168 federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) grant. Staunton city health nurse Bessie Weller announced on July 1 that 80 city and county children had been selected for camp, with another 20 under consideration. The directors also changed their girls-only rule, allowing 40 boys to attend for four weeks immediately after the girls’ sessions.
The camp continued to grow over the next several years through the generosity of local donations of money and supplies. In 1939 they outgrew the Roller camp and moved to a former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp near West Augusta, and many more activities were added, including swimming and spiritual pursuits. Bible study became an integral part of morning assembly for the 130 children that year, and on Sundays a visiting minister conducted a worship service.
“There is no way of measuring the dividends that come from the intensive social and religious training of those weeks,” wrote Mrs. White.
As beneficial as the program was, America’s entry into World War II strained the already meager camp resources. After the 1942 session the directors decided to postpone Nutrition Camp and divert the remaining $1,900 in the Community Chest to war bonds in preparation for restarting the camp at a later date.
Unfortunately, that never happened, and Nutrition Camp faded into a happy summer-time memory for the approximately 435 children who were a part of it.
Dale Brumfield can be reached at dalebrumfield@protonmail.com.