About the Exhibit

Methodology

I thought of the idea for this exhibit as I was about to leave with my troop to attend Camp Wolfeboro, my sixth and final time going as a Scout. With Camp Wolfeboro reopening almost two years after it saw Scouts for the last time, and knowing that the camp made a variety of safety precautions for the 2021 camp sessions, I wanted to study the effects of the pandemic on camp to preserve that information for the future.

When finding narrators for oral history interviews, I tried to find the widest variety of experiences and backgrounds possible in a reasonably-sized sample. I interviewed Scouts and Scouters from the East Bay and North Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Santa Cruz metropolitan area, and Arnold, which is located near Camp Wolfeboro. Most narrators were found and contacted directly by me at camp, although one Scout was found after camp ended through word of mouth. This inherently means there is a limit to the breadth of camp I could cover; other than staffers, who were at camp over its whole duration, the Scouts I interviewed collectively only were at camp for two weeks.

Nicholas Harvey, JOTPY intern

 

Jargon

This is some of the camp- and Scouts BSA-specific terminology used in the exhibits. If you are not well acquainted with Scouts BSA or Camp Wolfeboro, this mini dictionary will be helpful. Consult this dictionary if a term in an oral history or document confuses you.

Golden Gate Area Council (GGAC): A BSA council formed in 2020 through the combination of several SF Bay Area BSA councils. GGAC owns and operates Camp Wolfeboro.

merit badge: An award related to a certain field or subject (e.g. Chemistry, Forestry, Reading) Scouts can earn by completeing a set of requirements that varies by merit badge.

program area: a specific part of camp where merit badges and similarly-themed activities take place. For example, Waterfront hosts merit badge classes related to swimming and boating as well as other waterborne activities. 

Scouter: an adult who is involved in Scouting

Scouts BSA ranks: The order of Scouts BSA ranks goes: no rank < Scout (not to be confused with the generic term Scout) < Tenderfoot < Second Class < First Class < Star < Life < Eagle

Scouts BSA: The official name of the program ran by the Boy Scouts of America for 10- to 17-year-old boys and girls, formerly known as Boy Scouts.
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