Janet Kobren
In the summer of 1959 I was one of 32 young-adult 16-year-olds that spent the summer at the University Settlement Work Camp In Beacon, NY near where Pete Seeger lived. The “work campers” supported the regular camp that was set up by the University Settlement House in Manhattan to provide “underprivileged” children from lower east side Manhattan with the opportunity to spend a summer in “nature” and away from their hard life in the City. The University Settlement House, established in 1886, was the first in the American settlement house movement (see www.universitysettlement.org/us/about/history/). The camp was unique and provided a free, supportive, creative, and safe space for the children. Pete Seeger’s father-in-law, Ota, was the gardener for the camp, and one of the memorable things for me that summer was when Pete would come at various times and play for the campers over a campfire and sometimes separately in a more intimate setting for the work campers. He would always have everyone join in with him on the singing. One time, he brought a weaver colleague, Ronnie Gilbert, with him. And one afternoon he brought a musician from the Caribbean with him. They led a workshop for the work campers, teaching us the history of steel drums, and then we all made our own steel drum and learned how to play it.
It was always a treat whenever Pete came to the camp.
Due to financial difficulty, the residential camp in Beacon, NY had to be closed, and the property was sold in 2008 (see www.universitysettelment.org/us/programs/beacon_campus/).