Herbert H. Twining Papers, 1888, 1911-1980

Summary

Creator:

Twining, Herbert H., 1900-1971

Abstract:

Pioneer in the private camping movement, founder and director of Al-Gon-Quian Boys Camp on Burt Lake in Cheboygan County, Michigan, and officer in the American Camping Association. Correspondence, articles, speeches and photographs; also Camp Al-Gon-Quian materials, including program files, reports, roster files, and published yearly programs; materials of King family, missionaries in China; and plans of Twining home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, originally designed by Albert Kahn and his associate Malcolm for Louis A. Strauss.

Extent:

4.4 linear feet
2 oversize folders

Language:

English

Call Number:

85431 Aa 2; UAl; Ac

Authors:

Finding aid created by Michigan Historical Collections staff, 1980, 1985, updated April 2017

Background

Scope and Content:

The papers of Herbert Twining, except for an earlier family letter from 1888, date from the 1920s to 1980. The collection is broken down into a series of personal and family materials, a series on Camp Al-Gon-Quian, 1931-1967, and photographs.

Biographical / Historical:

A pioneer in the private camping movement, Herbert H. Twining was the founder and director of the Al-Gon-Quian Boys Camp, 1925-1967. An Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan graduate (1923), he was elected the first national president of the American Camping Association (ACA) in 1935. He later served as finance committee chairman and executor director of the ACA and was an advisor on the National Parks Board for several years.

The camp founded by Twining is located on Burt Lake in Cheboygan County. It was originally started as a private boys camp, and gained a prominent reputation over the years, as the sons of such important families as the Proctors and Gambles of Cincinnati, the Wrigleys of Chicago, and the Strohs of Detroit and Grosse Pointe were campers there, as well as the children of Alvin Bentley, C.S. Mott and G. Mennen Williams. Such notable University of Michigan figures as Ben Oosterbaan, Dr. Roger Howell, Roscoe Bonisteel and Deans Stason and James B. Edmonson have served on Twining's staff. Following his retirement in 1967, the camp was taken over by the Ann Arbor Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations.

Acquisition Information:

The collection was the gift of Mrs. Rozella Twining (donor no. 6438 ) in 1980 and 1984. Periodic additions have been received.

Rules or Conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

The Bentley Historical Library holds the Robert Twining collection and the Camp Al-Gon-Quian (Burt Lake, Mich.) records.

Subjects

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Subjects:

Architecture, Domestic.
Camps.
Missionaries -- China.
Industries -- Michigan -- Bay City.
Boat and ship industry.
Boats.
Business enterprises.
Camps.
Children.
Handicraft.
Interiors -- Business enterprises.
Missions -- China.
Picnics.
Restaurants.
Schools -- Michigan.
Shipping -- Great Lakes.
Ships -- Great Lakes.
Sports.
Telephone operators.
Young Men's Christian Associations.

Formats:

Photographs.

Names:

Al-Gon-Quian Boys Camp (Burt Lake, Mich.)
American Camping Association.
Shack (Restaurant : Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Strauss, Louis Abraham, 1872-1938.
Twining, Herbert H., 1900-1971.
Kahn, Albert, 1869-1942.

Places:

Cheboygan County (Mich.)
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949.
Ann Arbor (Mich.) -- Buildings.
Au Gres (Mich.) -- Buildings.
Bartlesville (Okla.) -- Buildings.
Burt Lake (Mich.)
China -- History -- Republic, 1912-1949.
Oklahoma.
Saginaw River (Mich.)
Twining (Mich.) -- Buildings.