Scope and Contents
Included in the Camp Waldport collection are records and publication of the Untide Press, a camp project that published volumes of poetry by Glen Coffield, William Everson, Kenneth Patchen, Bill Shank, and Jacob Sloan. Also included are copies of The Tide (a Camp Waldport newsletter) and The Illiterati (a fine arts publication of the camp at Cascade Locks); letters; Brethren Public Service Committee bulletins and memos; copies of various publications from other C.P.S. Camps, such as the ones at Cascade Locks and Elkton; and miscellany.
Dates
- 1943-1945
Creator
- Civilian Public Service. Camp #56 (Waldport, Or.) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Camp Waldport, or Civilian Public Service (CPS) Camp No. 56, was one of three conscientious objector camps in Oregon during WWII. Home to the Fine Arts Group, it was established in 1942 and administered by the Civilian Public Service of the Mennonite Central Committee (most of the CPS camps were run by the "historic peace churches": Mennonite, Brethren, and Quaker). The main work of the Camp Waldport interns was the reforestation of Blodgett Peak Burn, a forest that had been heavily logged during the first World War and that had suffered devastating wildfires after the war. The work was often dangerous; five men died during the three years the camp was in operation (compared with a total of nineteen deaths throughout the entire camp system). Of all the camps in the system, Waldport was the only one located within the coastal zone blackout.
Among Camp Waldport's interns were several poets and artists who are widely considered to have contributed to the Beat Movement and the "San Francisco Renaissance" of the 1950s and 60s. Celebrated "campers" include Adrian Wilson, author of The Design of Books; Kermit Sheets, founder of the theater group Interplayers; painter Morris Graves; and poets William Everson and Glen Coffield. The camp's official newsletter was The Tide, but the interns founded their own press, the Untide Press, which published volumes of poetry by Glen Coffield, William Everson, Kenneth Patchen, Bill Shank, and Jacob Sloan. The Untide's first book was Everson's X War Elegies (additional material about the Untide Press resides in Special Collections Manuscripts, SFM 105). The Illiterati, a periodical published out of the Cascade Locks CPS camp, published and supported the work of the Fine Arts Group at Waldport, along with the writing of Kenneth Patchen, Kenneth Rexroth, Henry Miller, and others.
Extent
4.5 linear feet (9 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Camp Waldport, or Civilian Public Service (CPS) Camp No. 56, was a conscientious objector camp in Oregon during WWII, and was home to the Fine Arts Group. Among Camp Waldport's interns were several poets and artists who are considered to have contributed to the Beat Movement and the "San Francisco Renaissance" of the 1950s and 60s, including Adrian Wilson, Kermit Sheets, painter Morris Graves, and poets William Everson and Glen Coffield. The camp's press, the Untide Press, published volumes of poetry by Glen Coffield, William Everson, Kenneth Patchen, Bill Shank, and Jacob Sloan. The Illiterati, a periodical published out of the nearby Cascade Locks CPS camp, published and supported the work of the Fine Arts Group at Waldport, along with the writing of Kenneth Patchen, Kenneth Rexroth, Henry Miller, and others.Included in the Camp Waldport collection are records and publication of the Untide Press, a camp project that published volumes of poetry by Glen Coffield, William Everson, Kenneth Patchen, Bill Shank, and Jacob Sloan. Also included are copies of The Tide (a Camp Waldport newsletter) and The Illiterati (a fine arts publication of the camp at Cascade Locks); letters; Brethren Public Service Committee bulletins and memos; copies of various publications from other C.P.S. Camps, such as the ones at Cascade Locks and Elkton; and miscellany.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into series by subject.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Deposited at the University of Oregon in 1945.
Physical Description
9 containers
- Arts -- Oregon -- Waldport -- Periodicals Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Arts and Humanities Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Brethren Service Committee
- Civilian Public Service
- Civilian Public Service. Camp #56 (Waldport, Or.)
- Coffield, Glen, 1917-1981
- Everson, William, 1912-1994
- Graves, Morris, 1910-2001
- Literature Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Patchen, Kenneth, 1911-1972
- Publishers and Publishing Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Sheets, Kermit
- Sloan, Jacob
- Untide Press
- Wilson, Adrian
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Conscientious objectors -- Oregon -- Waldport -- Waldport Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Camp Waldport Records
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Rose M. Smith
- Date
- ©2004
- Description rules
- Rules for Archival Description
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
