History 1918-1919

Camp Russell had its beginnings in 1917 when Samuel T. Russell invited a dozen or so Boy Scouts, from Ilion, New York, to his property on White Lake at Woodgate NY for a week of camping. Samuel T. Russell was a wealthy industrialist who lived in Ilion and had long held an interest in the youth of America. He was especially interested in the Boy Scout movement which had been founded in the United States in 1910. The scouts that Russell invited to his property in 1917, apparently like the White Lake area so much that he decided to construct a Boy Scout camp on his property.

The next year Samuel Russell offered fifteen acres of his land at White Lake for use as a summer camp for the Boy Scouts of Ilion, Utica, and Rome, New York. In addition to the land, Russell also promised to construct a building on the property "in the immediate future". This building was to have proper kitchen facilities and was to be used as a general headquarters and commissary department for the camp. On May 15, 1918 at an executive committee meeting of the scout groups of the three communities, it was decided to accept Russell's generous offer. On June 1, 1918, a work party of twelve from Ilion, led by Russell himself, traveled to White Lake and constructed a two story, 18-by-24 foot, building. The building still stands and is known today as the "Brown House".

On Monday July 1, 1918, "despite some disagreeable weather", the new Boy Scout camp, named Camp Russell in honor of its donor, officially opened for its first season. There were 54 people in camp the first week. Scouts could sign up to stay for one to eight weeks of camping as the camp season ran until August 26. The cost to attend Camp Russell that first season was $5.50 for the first week and $5.00 for each additional week.

The daily program at Camp Russell in 1918 was; 7 AM reveille, 7:15 morning dip, 7:45 setting up exercises, 7:55 flag raising, 8:00 breakfast, 8:30 scout assembly, 9:30 military drills, 10:00 athletic sports and recreation, 11:30 morning swim, 12 PM inspection, 12:30 dinner, 2:00 scouting, study, and tests, 5:00 afternoon swim, 6:00 supper, 7:00 games and sports, 7:55 flag lowering, 8:30 council fire, talks, stories, and songs, 9:45 in tents, and 10:00 taps and nine hours of sleep. Sports and games played included baseball, volleyball, and quoit pitching (horseshoes). The morning dip was a ritual where scouts would proceed to the waterfront the first thing in the morning and take a quick plunge into White Lake. This morning dip became a tradition at Camp Russell that lasted for many years.

On Saturday, July 6, 1918 the formal dedication ceremony took place at Camp Russell. According to newspaper accounts, more than three hundred people attended. "The ceremony began with the raising of an American flag while those assembled sang the "Star Spangled banner". This was followed by the scouts reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and then the singing of "Keep the Home Fires Burning". The opening ceremony was followed by a number of speeches with the last speaker of the day being Samuel T. Russell who promised to do still more for the camp in the future. The ceremony was closed with the scouts giving three cheers to Russell followed by the singing of "America" after which three scouts from Rome gave a demonstration in First Aid skills.

On August 26, 1918 Camp Russell's first season came to a close. Two hundred and fifty scouts took part in the first summer of camping. Scouts and parents alike were quite pleased with the new camp and plans were made to enlarge the camp in 1919.

At a Camp Russell committee meeting early in 1919 it was decided to make some changes and improvements on the camp property before the opening of the second season. Plans were made for more accommodations, increasing capacity to 80 scouts a week and plans were made for the construction of a kitchen and dining hall building. The materials for the construction of this new building were to be donated by Samuel Russell. The building was to have up-to-date, state of the 1919 art, kitchen equipment including a dish washing machine, hot and cold water, pumping apparatus, and other modern conveniences of the era. Other features of the new building were to be living quarters for the chef and proper toilet facilities.

The new dining hall building was completed in June of 1919. In the same month Camp Russell Inc. was formed for the purpose of owning, maintaining, and operating eh camps. This was the first step in the process of turning over the deed of the Camp Russell property to the Boy Scouts.

On August 9, 1919, a formal presentation ceremony was held at Camp Russell at which Samuel T. Russell promised to turn over the deed of 15 acres to Camp Russell Inc. on the condition that the camp be used by the Boy Scouts for at least four consecutive weeks every summer. In the speech Samuel Russell said, "It is now some 13 months ago that this property was opened and I said then to the committee interested that if the first year's work was satisfactory I wanted to do more, for I believe in boys and in giving them every opportunity for enjoyment and improvement. At the end of the year there was another meeting and it appeared that something like 200 boys had been here during which time there had been no cases of sickness, homesickness, or serious trouble of any kind, but that everything had passed off agreeably and profitably. It seemed to be worth all the effort that had been made on the part of others. Accordingly, the showing warranted further undertaking so I did more building, and the camp is what you see. As yet the formal and legal organization of the corporation has not been perfected, but I am here to say that then I will turn over the deed to this 15 acres of land and its buildings for the Boy Scouts, and the only conditions is that is shall be annually and continuously used for that purpose. With the gift goes all the good will and good wishes at my command. The season thus far has been a happy one here and there have been as many as 114 boys in camp at one time, and when the place is closed the attendance will be up to several hundred. If thereby one boy has been made better physically or morally, more equipped for his life work, it is worth while. If added to this, these advantages have been brought to some hundreds of boys, so much the better and so much greater the satisfaction. I shall hope to continue further to the enterprise and one of my regrets is that I can not command more time for giving it attention. There are great possibilities here for development in the future and I want to do my share. It is delightful to see these lads and to know the good work which has been accomplished here already and that which will be done in years to come. One of the most fervent wishes of my heart is that the Boy Scout movement may continue its splendid accomplishments."

On October 8, 1919, the deed was legally transferred to Camp Russell Inc. by Mr. Russell.