Episode 13: Sounds of Camp
This episode of VT Untapped™ is part of a six-part series built around our “Listening in Place” project. We’ll take you into six different Vermont communities where we’ve spent some time listening to what people are going through and what they’re thinking about during the pandemic and beyond.
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What does a vibrant camp sound like without its campers?
“Recordings are a kind of time machine...”
Camp Killooleet sits on the banks of the Hancock Branch, a tributary to the White River in Hancock, Vermont. Since 1927 it’s welcomed kids ages 9-14 for a classic summer camp experience. Hiking and swimming, arts and woodworking, sports, horse-back riding and a particularly strong music and song culture due in large part to the longtime connection of the Seeger family with Killooleet. John and Ellie Seeger bought the camp in 1949 and today their daughter, Kate Seeger and her husband Dean Spencer are the camp directors. John Seeger was the brother of the legendary folk singer, Pete Seeger.
Back in August, Mary Wesley and assistant producer Abra Clawson drove down to Hancock to meet with Kate, Dean and Kate’s brother, Tony Seeger. Tony is an anthropologist and audio-visual archivist and he serves on the Board of Directors for the VFC. It was an unusual visit because for the first time in 93 years, Camp Killooleet was closed, due to Covid -19. Where you’d expect to hear splashing and shouting in the pond and music in the camp house there was only birdsong and a slight breeze.
This episode explores the ways in which a summer camp community, an inherently ephemeral group, stays connected over time and distance. Camp Killoolleet in particular offers a unique site of observation and reflection thanks to two albums recorded in 1958 available from Smithsonian Folkways: Songs of Camp and Sounds of Camp. These historical recordings feature documentary soundscapes and sing-alongs that allow us to travel back in time to hear just what was missing from Killooleet during this “camper-less” summer of 2020.
the recordings
We thank Smithsonian Folkways for granting us permission to feature selections from Sounds of Camp and Songs of Camp in this episode. You can find both albums--as well as the entire Smithsonian Folkways catalog here on their website.
The campers and counselors featured in this episode are Charlie, Kim, Smitty, Danny and Avi. You can sit in on one of the Killooleet Virtual Campfires here on YouTube.
Killooleet Then and Now
Photos of camp through the years, used with permission from Camp Killooleet:
Killooleet in 2020 (Photos by Abra Clawson):
Listening in Place
The Vermont Folklife Center believes that a pathway through anxiety, fear and uncertainty lies in the act of listening as much as it does in the act of telling one’s story. This is what Listening in Place is all about. If you’d like to learn more about doing your own interviews in your family, household or community or if you’re part of a group or organization like Camp Killooleet and would like to partner with VFC to engage in this kind of work, please click here to learn more.
Interviews from this episode:
Tony Seeger, Kate Seeger, and Dean Spencer were interviewed by Mary Wesley and Abra Clawson at Camp Killooleet on August 2, 2020.
Tony Seeger, Kate Seeger, and Dean Spencer were interviewed by Mary Wesley and Abra Clawson on Zoom on August 4, 2020.
To access the full recordings please contact the VFC Archivist.
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More About Listening in Place
MORE ABOUT CAMP KILLOOLEET
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The views and opinions expressed by participants of this project are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Vermont Folklife Center.
This episode of VT Untapped has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
