FRESH AIR CAMPS

FRESH AIR CAMPS. Dubuque's first Fresh Air Camp was conducted by the DUBUQUE VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION in June 1911. Held on the WARTBURG THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY grounds, the camp was open to malnourished children and those in need of medical care. Supported financially by the sales of Christmas Seals, the camp depended upon tents supplied by Dubuque residents. Children were brought to the camp in light-covered carriages called "carry-alls."

In 1913 a Fresh Air Camp for sickly and frail children was opened at RHOMBERG PARK. A one block square in the Eagle Point area at Shiras and Rhomberg avenues, the location later used for the the Eagle Point apartments. The park was owned by Alphons L. and Catherine Rhomberg who allowed the VNA to use the land without cost.

The number of children enrolling in the camp grew annually. In 1924 there were ninety-seven children enrolled on the opening day with daily attendance being ninety. (1) By 1931 unemployment was so high that the VNA only enrolled those in the greatest need. Despite this limitation, seventy children attended the entire six week session. (2) In 1933 the VNA was allowed to use Ridgemount, the vacant Massey home at the corner of James and Langworthy STREETS.

Complaints from neighbors and the suggestion of the Iowa tuberculosis association to discontinue camps led the VNA to cancel their plans in 1936. Funds raised were used in the schools and for Mantoux tests which tested hypersensitivity to tuberculin that indicates infection. Tuberculosis Health Seals were sold in December of each year. (3)

Money raised helped establish an Open Window Room at PRESCOTT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. This was patterned after the program operated between 1914 to 1921 at JACKSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL for under-nourished and under-weight children. During the school year, if a child's weight and general health declined (thought to be signs of impending tuberculosis), parents were advised to enroll their child in the Open Window Room. In this classroom, children were given help to strengthen them to resist tuberculosis. When the cold was extreme, the children were clothed in "riding hood" outfits so that they could continue their studies with the windows open. This was claimed to eradicate signs of the disease. (4)

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Source:

1. "90 Children Enjoying Camp," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, July 6, 1924, p. 10

2. "Visiting Nurse Association Closed Fresh Air Park at Rhomberg Park Last Thursday," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, August 16, 1931, p. 8

3. "Some of the Health Work Financed in Dubuque by Health Seals," Telegraph-Herald and Times-Journal, December 20, 1931, p. 25

4. Ibid.

Kruse, Len. "Visiting Nurses," My Old Dubuque, Center for Dubuque History, Loras College, 2000 p. 45-46