1927 - 1930
The Early Years of Camp Bert Adams

Camp Bert Adams was officially dedicated on Friday, June 11, 1927. Two days later, 106 scouts streamed into the camp for the first summer camp week. The newspaper announcement invited the general public to attend and inspect the camp.  Among the special guests present were Mr. Lewis H. Beck, Governor Clifford Walker, Atlanta Mayor I.N. Ragsdale, and Chief Scout Executive James E. West.  In his address, Dr. West stated that Atlanta was one of only a few councils at that time to own a camp.

Sunday, June 13, 1927 - The very first day of summer camp at Bert Adams

Below is the 1927 Camp Bert Adams Staff. Does anyone know, or can anyone guess, which one of these people was most famous?
Email your answers or guesses to: contactbertadamsboys2@gmail.com.
The answer and some interesting details will be shown here in April.

The calls of the bugle echoed throughout the camp and the calls were a very important part of camp life as they called the scouts to each activity.

The daily schedule emphasized scout skill instruction and having fun at camp:

6:25am - First Call

6:30am - Reveille

6:40am - Colors - Flag raising at the parade ground

7:00am - Breakfast

7:30am - Fatigue and preparation for hut inspections

8:30am - Hut inspections

9:00am - 11:00am - Merit badge and scout rank requirements instruction

11:00am - 11:45am - Morning swim (instruction and swim tests)

12:15pm - Lunch (referred to as Dinner at that time)

12:45pm - 2:00pm - Fatigue

2:00pm - 4:00pm - Optional activities (leatherwork, wood working, archery, Red Cross lifesaving , rope skills, & nature hikes

4:00pm - 4:45pm - Afternoon swim (water games and swimming for fun)

4:45pm - 6:00pm - Free time

6:00pm - Retreat - Flag lowering at the parade ground

6:15pm - Supper

7:30pm - 9:00pm - Camp fire, games, and special ceremonies

9:25pm - Tattoo

9:30pm - Taps (good night)

Ah, to be at boy scout camp again...wouldn't that be nice?

The camp store was a popular place for the campers to go after the mid-day meal, especially since this was the only time of the day that it was open.  The store was open for one hour, and scouts were limited to fifteen-cents for their purchases.  When activities resumed in the afternoon, the store then closed for the remainder of the day.

The camp paper in 1927, known as The Totem Pole, was very popular among the scouts.  Bill Chadwick (Eagle Scout and son of Regional Scout Executive Francis "Frank" Chadwick) was the editor and primary writer of the camp paper. His father had just become the Regional Executive early in 1927, and his family moved to Atlanta from Chicago. Bill had honed his writing skills in high school, and he was also an avid member of his school's debating team, so he had a keen interest in writing interesting and compelling stories. Bill also contributed stories about camp life at Bert Adams to the Atlanta newspapers during the summer camp season. Each issue of The Totem Pole, was printed each evening and then distributed the next morning at breakfast.  After reading each issue, scouts often sent them home for their parents to read.

To encourage scouts to participate in the various activities, the camp used a "Coup Belt Honor" system.  In this system, scouts could earn "coup" by performing certain tasks.  The scout's belt was stamped with the appropriate symbol and colored in. The Coup Belt Honor System was only used for one or two years when it was replaced by a yellow felt patch.

Coup Belt Honor system icons with corresponding requirements:
TENT to a scout of the patrol winning cabin inspection.  Color - Brown
SUN to the patrol leader of the patrol winning cabin inspection.  Color - Yellow
CAMPFIRE to each scout of the patrol having best campfire program.  Color red flame, black Sticks.
CRESCENT MOON to a scout taking part in campfire program.  Color - Yellow
KETTLE to each scout of patrol having highest percentage in K.P. inspection.  Color - Black.
RED WATER DOG to all beginners swimming 50 feet.
WHITE WATER DOG to all scouts swimming 100 yards.
BLUE WATER DOG to all scouts fulfilling swimming requirements of merit badges in Swimming or Life Saving.
LIFE PRESERVER to a scout selected as life guard.  Must hold merit badge in Life Saving.
Color - White buoy, Red bands.
ARROW or ARROW HEAD for each merit badge earned while in camp.  Color - White
ONE WIGWAM to a scout completing Second Class requirements.  Color - Yellow with Red figures.
TWO WIGWAMS to a scout completing First Class requirements. Color - Yellow with Red figures.
PINE TREE to scouts of patrol passing most tests while in camp. Color - Green
BUFFALO HORN to a scout bringing musical instrument to camp and furnishing music at programs.
Color - Yellow, Black bell, Red mouth.
FOOT PRINT - to a scout going on supervised overnight hike from camp.  Color - White, Black nails.
AXE to a scout taking part in approved building project.  Color - Black head, Red Handle.
SWASTIKA to a scout selected as special instructor.  Color - Yellow.
GOAT to a scout doing mess hall duty as directed by steward.  Color - Red face, White horns, White eyes.
SHARK to a scout completing three articles of handicraft.  Color - White
THREE RED STRIPES to a scout serving as orderly.
Other coups for special work as designated by the Camp Director.

Camp Bert Adams Felt Emblems -

The ultimate achievement at camp was earning a felt camp emblem.  The requirements for this felt badge were lengthy.  In addition to earning a minimum of 15 coups, a scout had to also do the following:

Advance one rank or earn three merit badges
Make a bird house and put it up
Identify 10 trees, 6 constellations, 12 knots, and poison ivy
Attend Sunday religious services
Demonstrate loyalty and obedience
Write home twice a week
Do a good turn daily
Keep quarters clean, and
Take part in the campfire program

With such a lengthy requirement, it's no wonder that only 23 scouts, out of the 953 who attended the first year, earned the emblem.  By 1929, the felt emblem had stopped being issued and the round yellow patch was used as the camp patch until 1936. When scouts arrived at camp, they were each issued a round yellow camp patch. It was then the scout's responsibility to sew the patch onto their uniform.

Ten great reasons to stay at camp!
Boy Scout camper Hugh Caldwell of Troop 26 sends letter home from Camp Bert Adams:

When "Pop" Jameson was encouraged to resign by the council executive board and the council's "Scoutmaster's Club" after having served for nearly eleven years, his Field Scout Executive, Dobbie Dobson, was promoted to Scout Executive.  Pop Jameson was running his own private boys summer camp in the North Georgia Mountains, Camp Dixie, and it began operating each summer even prior to him becoming Scout Executive in 1916. Even though he had given more than ten years of diligent effort to developing and growing the scout council in Atlanta, once Camp Bert Adams was built, there were many Atlanta leaders who felt that the Scout Executive should be giving his attention to the council's camp, not a separate private camp. But this idea was a non-starter for Pop Jameson as he had moved to Atlanta with the intention of starting and running his own private camp, and he was quick to make it known that he would not give up his camp. There was a particular Scoutmaster's Club meeting where the discussion with Pop Jameson turned into a heated argument.

Pop Jameson resigned at the end of October 1927, after which the council executive board released the following statement: "The board unanimously expressed its regret at the resignation of so valuable an executive as Mr. Jameson. They recognized his unswerving loyalty to the scoutmasters and the scout cause in Atlanta, and appointed a committee to prepare suitable resolutions on the retirement of the chief executive of the council." The resolutions committee included Hal F. Hentz, chairman; Willis A. Sutton, Thomas H. Daniel, Eugene Harrington, and T. G. Woolford.

1928 -

With Dobbie Dobson installed as the new Scout Executive, the council executive board then hired a new Field Scout Executive. Edward B. Dodd, originally from LaFayette, Georgia in the Northwest Georgia mountains near Chattanooga, was hired and then attended professional boy scout leader training, after which he moved to Atlanta and launched into his primary role as the Camp Director at Bert Adams.

Mr. Dodd was an experienced camp leader, having served for six summers at National Scout Commissioner Daniel Carter Beard's camp, called The Dan Beard Outdoor School, located near Hawley Pennsylvania. The first two summers (1919 and 1920) he was a woodcraft instructor, then in 1921 he was a waterfront safety instructor, then in 1922 he was the assistant camp director, and then in 1923 he was the camp director. After that, for three years (1924 to 1926), he worked at the Circle H Ranch in Wyoming, conducting horseback trips in Glacier National Park (Montana) and other parts of the Rocky Mountains. In 1927, he returned to The Dan Beard Outdoor School and served as the supervisor for outdoor activities.

July 31, 1928 - The New Swimming Pool Officially Opens!

With yells of joy, Atlanta boy scouts dove into the new concrete swimming pool at Camp Bert Adams following ceremonies marking its formal opening. The swimming pool was presented to Scout Executive Dobson by Mr. T. W. Moore, president of the Atlanta Council. A water carnival was staged under the direction of Joe "Buck" Woodyard, director of the waterfront, and a series of competitions were engaged in by the scouts. The new pool was 105 feet long and 35 feet wide, ranging in depth from 2 and 1/2 feet to 9 and 1/2 feet. It quickly became the pride of the scout camp. The pool had concrete sides and wood planked decking. The facilities included four cement floored showers. The pool was located a distance to the west of the lake and at the bottom of a wooded ravine flanked on one side by a 40-foot bluff. As was the custom of the time, most boys swam naked in the pool, only wearing suits when mothers or other ladies were present in camp. Any time a female visitor arrived at camp, a staff member would run down to the cabins and waterfront calling "L. I. C." (Ladies In Camp), warning all those who were not decent to get so immediately.

1928 - Camp Hut Names and their Totems

Scouts arrived at camp individually and were assigned to a hut.  Each hut held 16 scouts, and a staff member was assigned to look after the boys in their hut.  Each boy decided which scout skills and merit badges he would work on and attended instruction times each day.  Any boy not constructively engaged during the instruction periods was assigned a skill or badge to take, or given some other task to keep him out of trouble. This was rarely the case as most boys were very anxious to learn scout skills and achieve higher scout ranks. Most Atlanta troops had regular competitions to promote rank advancement. Swimming was, by far, the most popular activity, and the staff at other departments sometimes complained that it was hard to lure the scouts away from the swimming pool.

The huts also competed against one another in terms of cleanliness, promptness at meals and flag ceremonies, participation at campfires, and number of coups earned among the members.  The hut with the most points at the end of given period (either one or two weeks) got to paint it's totem on the side of the dining hall.  This tradition continued until the mid-1930's.

For the 1928 summer camp season, Ed Dodd incorporated several ideas from his days at Dan Beard's "camp." The first was the naming of the ten huts after animals, and then constructing painted animal totems for each. The totems were then mounted atop long wooden staffs, and the scouts of each hut would bring their hut totems to meals, campfires, and camp photographs. The first hut name started with the letter "a," and then each hut continued through the alphabet to the letter "J."  Therefore, the hut names became: Antelope, Bear, Coyote, Dolphin, Eagle, Fox, Gopher, Hawk, Ibis, and Jackel.

Below are a few examples of the hut totems painted on the dining hall exterior wall; also two scouts holding their hut's totem -

In 1928, the Coup Belt Honor system was replaced with a round yellow patch, the first of which had four blank panels, and in later years the patch had five panels. Each of these panels could be "stamped" with various black coups. Within another year or two, the coups were replaced by five icons that represented each of the camp's "departments." Below are three examples of the four panel felt patches.

1929 -

Camp Bert Adams was really humming along by the summer of 1929. With Ed Dodd at the helm, and Dobbie Dobson being the great and enthusiastic promoter of Boy Scouting that he was, there was no doubt that the summer camp season would be anything less than spectacular! Dodd assembled a "dream team" for the summer, and the council also added a third full-time professional, A. P. "Pat" Patterson, who worked as a Field Scout Executive during the year, and was the Waterfront Director at camp.

Camp facilities were improved further in 1930 with the addition of a health lodge.  This building was contributed by Mr. William C. Wardlaw in memory of his son, Platt, who was an Atlanta boy scout from 1921 to 1923 and had died in January 1924.

During his time at the camp, Ed Dodd experimented with broadening the program to appeal to more boys.  To give 11-year olds a taste of Scouting before they could become scouts (12 years old was the minimum age to join boy scouts at that time),  "Camp Kit Carson" was initiated.  In this program, one week was set aside at the end of the regular season for non-Scouts.  They followed the regular program, except they could not earn merit badges or pass ranks.

Honor Camper

At the end of each camp period, the staff chose who they felt was the best "all-around camper" and awarded him the title of Honor Camper.  At the end of the summer season, all the weekly honor campers for that season were hosted by the camp staff on a special trip.  In 1930, the trip, called a "Gypsy Hike," went to Saint Augustine, Florida. The following two summers (1931 and 1932) the honor camper trip was a multi-day canoeing trip on the Chattahoochee River.