The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Browse Items (345 total)

  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 164218.png

    8mm color film clip of two medical professionals administering vaccines to children at Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville hosted the 2-3 week long summer camp in Otter Creek. The children in this film are receiving what was likely the Salk polio vaccine, introduced just five years earlier in 1955. Before this point, many parents dreaded the late summer months when polio cases peaked, and swimming pools were often shut down to try to curb transmission through contaminated water. The year 1952 marked the worst outbreak of polio in the nation’s history, with nearly 58,000 reported cases of paralytic poliomyelitis. The number of cases dropped to just under 3,200 in 1960 and fell to the single digits by the 1980s.
  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 164018.png

    8mm color film clip of field day competitions at Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky, as shot by a camp counselor. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville hosted the 2-3 week long summer camp in Otter Creek.
  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 163725.png

    8mm color film clip of the merchandise in the camp store at Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky, as shot by a camp counselor. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville hosted the 2-3 week long summer camp in Otter Creek.
  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 163556.png

    8mm color film clip of a milkman delivering and removing milk churns for Camp Tall Trees, and children dispensing milk. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville hosted the 2-3 week long summer camp in Otter Creek Recreation Area, Meade County, Kentucky.
  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 163056.png

    8mm color film clip of Camp Tall Trees visiting a farm in Meade County, Kentucky, as shot by a camp counselor in 1966. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville hosted the 2-3 week long summer camp in Otter Creek Recreation Area.
  • Harvester_preview.png

    8mm color film clip of Camp Tall Trees visiting a farm in Meade County, Kentucky, as shot by a camp counselor in 1966. Farmer workers are demonstrating the use of a tractor-pulled combine harvester in a field.
  • Screenshot 2024-09-10 163459.png

    8mm color film clip of the grounds and facilities of Camp Ben F. Washer in Meade County, Kentucky, as shot by a camp staff member. The Jewish Community Center of Louisville worked with Otter Creek Park to open the new camp grounds by the 1967 camp season.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_010.pdf

    Advertisement poster for the Jewish Community of Louisville's new summer boarding camp in Meade County, Kentucky, named Camp Ben F. Washer. The brochure explains the camp's purpose: "Camp Ben F. Washer offers your child an opportunity to learn how to work together with youngsters and adults, learn good sportsmanship, and make new friends. / The camp program stresses activities which can only be enjoyed in a rural atmosphere. / Camp aims are achieved through supervised programs, including hiking, camp crafts, arts and crafts, cookouts, overnight trips, swimming, boating, archery, sports, games, cabin activities, special programs, and horseback riding."
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_009.pdf

    Brochure for the Jewish Community Center of Louisville's 1968 summer camps: Camp Ben F. Washer, Camp Ricarree, and Junior Camp.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_004.pdf

    29-page report on the 1950 season of Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. The Louisville Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) operated the Jewish overnight summer camp.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_008.pdf

    Content note: some imagery and language that stereotypes Indigenous people. Brochure for the Jewish Community Center of Louisville's summer boarding camp called Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. The brochure explains the camp's purpose: "Camp Tall Trees offers your child an opportunity to learn how to work together with youngsters and adults, learn good sportsmanship, and make new friends. / The camp program stresses activities which normally are not available to children in the city. / Camp aims are achieved through supervised programs, including hiking, camp-craft, arts and crafts, cookouts, overnight trips, swimming, archery, sports, games, cabin activities, special programs, and horseback riding."
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_007.pdf

    Handwritten, two-page list of positions and proposed salaries for the Young Men's Hebrew Association's Camp Tall Trees staff. The boarding camp operated during two to three summer sessions in Meade County, Kentucky. The cook, assistant cook, dishwasher, and maintenance and helper positions are notated with "(negro)", while the list otherwise assumes that a white person holds the other roles.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_006.pdf

    Four-page newspaper produced by Jewish counselors and campers of Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. Includes a list of the cabins and campers with a characteristic of each.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_005.pdf

    Newspaper produced by Jewish counselors and campers of Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. Includes a list of the cabins and campers with "an outstanding characteristic of each camper," and biographical sketches on the counselors. Headlines include "Experiments," "Bravery Department," "The Treasure Hunt," "An Overnight Hike," "The Perfect Boy Camper," "The Chuckle Box," "The Perfect Girl Camper," "Things Most Appreciated This First Camping Season," "Nature Report," "A Report from One of Our Choir Members," "Evening Programs," and "The Swimming Pool."
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_002.pdf

    4-page brochure for Camp Riccaree in Louisville and Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky. The brochure describes the dates, staffing, locations, food, fees, and activities for the Jewish summer camps.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssbd_j59_f0538_001.pdf

    2-page brochure for the June-July 1945 season of Camp Riccaree day camp operated by the Young Men's Hebrew Association in Louisville, Kentucky. The center fold notes "Camp Riccaree operates from the Y.M.H.A. building where are located cabins, craft shops, council ring, and the dining room. The camp is operated during the day with activities and programs similar to a boarding camp. Parks, swimming pools, and other public and private facilities are used as occasions warrant." The brochure details the fees, season and daily schedules, and staff.
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2022_16_2_1.jpg

    Cream colored cloth banner with appliqued blue letters reading "Tall Trees JCC." Images of a male figure, a star of David with a tree inside of it, and a female figure--all made of blue cloth--are also appliqued on the front of the banner. The Louisville Young Men's Hebrew Association and its successor the Jewish Community Center held 2-3 week overnight summer camps at Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky, about 35 miles from Louisville. In 1966, a section of Otter Creek Park was renovated and opened as Camp Ben F. Washer, the successor to Camp Tall Trees.


  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2022_16_1_2.jpg

    Cream colored felt pennant with blue trim and strips of felt on the left side, a tall tree in blue, and the text "Camp Tall Trees" in blue. On the back is an ink stamp in green with the text "The Felt Crafters / Emblematic Sportswear for Club-Camp-Campus / Factories - Plaistow, N.H. / Made in U.S.A." The Louisville Young Men's Hebrew Association and its successor the Jewish Community Center held 2-3 week overnight summer camps at Camp Tall Trees in Meade County, Kentucky, about 35 miles from Louisville. In 1966, a section of Otter Creek Park was renovated and opened as Camp Ben F. Washer, the successor to Camp Tall Trees.


  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssa_w194b_f245_jewisharmy.pdf

    Letter from the Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews to Louisville Times Editor Tom Wallace. The letter is signed by S. Merlin, Director of Information. Following the Louisville Times's recent signing of "the Proclamation on the Moral Rights of the Stateless and Palestinian Jews," Merlin responds with a discussion of what the Committee believes must be done to support and save Jews in Europe. He outlines three essential actions: "The creation of a United Nations agency" dedicated to planning how to save "millions of Hebrew people in Europe"
  • https://filsonhistoricalomekaimages.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/mssa_w194b_f272_zionistorg.pdf

    The first page of this document is a letter dated May 4, 1945, from Col. Morris J. Mendelsohn to Louisville Times editor Tom Wallace. Mendelsohn expresses his support for "a Jewish Palestine" "as the only common-sense answer to the unequalled tragedy of the Jewish people." He describes the American government and civilian support for a Jewish Palestine and asks Wallace to read and sign the Declaration he enclosed with the letter. The following three pages are a copy of the Declaration, which is directed to the United States government and calls for Palestine to "be proclaimed as a Jewish State." Throughout, the Declaration connects an end to antisemitism with a rise in "lasting peace" across the globe. It also points out that Jewish delegations have been absent from United Nations conferences and seeks greater Jewish inclusion in international affairs. The signature line is blank. The last page of this document is a letter dated May 8, 1945, from Tom Wallace's secretary to Mendelsohn indicating that his letter has been received and will be given to Wallace when he returns to the office.
Output Formats

atom, dcmes-xml, json, omeka-xml, rss2