CampWaldport, 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 CampWaldport'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 CampWaldport 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 CampWaldport 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.
Repository:
University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through
a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical Note
CampWaldport, 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 CampWaldport 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 CampWaldport'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.
Content Description
Included in the CampWaldport 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 CampWaldport 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.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Collection is open to the public
Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.
Preferred Citation :
[Identification of item], CampWaldportrecords, Bx 034, Special Collections &
University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
Collection is organized into series by subject.
Acquisition Information :
Deposited at the University of Oregon in 1945.
Related Materials :
Additional material about the Untide Press resides in manuscript collection SFM 105, Special Collections &
University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Corporate Names :
Brethren Service Committee--Records and correspondence
Civilian Public Service
Civilian Public Service. Camp #56 (Waldport, Or.)--Records and correspondence
Untide Press
Subject Terms :
Arts--Oregon--Waldport--Periodicals
World War, 1939-1945--Conscientious objectors--Oregon--Waldport
