Children's Fresh Air Society of Maryland papers

The Children’s Fresh Air Society started informally in 1888 after the Christian Endeavor Society of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church raised funds to give disadvantaged children summer vacations in the countryside; By 1891 the Fresh Air Society was fully organized by 1891and was giving children a two week summer holiday in the countryside, away from hot, noisy city streets. Much of the thought behind the creation of the Society was the misguided idea that the fresh air contributed to spiritual cleanliness and was a most suitable way to prevent disease.

During its first years the Society secured vacation homes for children who were otherwise unable to visit the country. In 1895, 132 boys and 348 girls were sent on two week stints. Homes were also offered for sixty-two of the children, who otherwise could not attend due to lack of funds. Initially the boys were lodged at Camp Endeavor near Bel Air, MD, and lodges for girls were placed in Mount Washington and Phoenix, Md. In 1907 the Society purchased a 38 acre property called Dunkale Farm from Benjamin Amoss three miles south of Bel-Air.

Applications for attendance to the Fresh Air farm were filled out by families or charitable organizations. These applications were reviewed by a four person staff that made the selections, and then arranged date and length of visit, transportation, place of departure, and individual requirements. The Bureau of Communicable Diseases of the City Health Department sent lists to the office daily of contagious diseases, to insure no exposed children made the trip.

Organizations such as the Kiwanis Clubs assisted the Christian Endeavor group in the early days of the camp. Hundreds of dollars were raised through street carnivals, neighborhood parades, and even small lemonade and snowball stands. In 1926 the Fresh Air Society became part of the Community Chest, and received support from their annual fall appeal.

The later years of the Fresh Air Society included a notable drug bust in which 16 of the 50 counselors were arrested for possession of marijuana and LSD, after repeated complaints of drug activity were reported to the Harford County Sheriff’s Department. The Fresh Air Society closed its doors in 1983 due to lack of funding and the counselor’s inability to deal with “street-wise” youths.