History
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The story
of Norman B. Barr Camp begins in the late nineteenth century with
a young graduate from the University of Nebraska and the McCormick
Theological Seminary in Chicago. Just prior to his graduation from
McCormick in 1897, Rev. Barr was asked to be the interim pastor of
Olivet Memorial Church located in a rough section of the near North
side of Chicago. The neighborhood was a poor area with high unemployment
and crime. It became known as "Little Hell" and this was
where Rev. Norman B. Barr thrived. He preached and drew followers
as he walked the streets, grew his church and developed the Olivet
Institute which provided a wide range of social services including
medical and dental care, an "Old People's Home", day-care,
music, sewing, sports, and camping. He saw camping as a respite for
those living in the crowded tenements around Olivet and used property
on the North shore of Lake Michigan at Glencoe Beach as a camping
site. |
| In 1908,
Rev. Barr was a speaker at a conference held at the YMCA camp (now
Aurora University) on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin. During his visit,
he walked along the shore path past a piece of property advertised
for sale by Alice B. Stockman, M.D. He immediately viewed the property
as ideal for a permanent camp for the Institute. He borrowed $50 from
a colleague for a down payment and the land was purchased for about
$9,000 in January 1909. Olivet Institute Camp was the new owner. |
Olivet Camp 1909
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| Members of the Olivet Institute community
would take a train from Chicago to Williams Bay where they transferred
to boats that took them to Camp. Housing consisted of tents and water
was transported from a spring at neighboring Holiday Home. Kerosene
was used for lighting and cooking. Food requiring refrigeration was
stored in the ground until an ice house was built. As cottages replaced
tents, a sewer system and electricity were added, showers were built,
and the grounds were developed. Rev. Barr worked endlessly to raise
money for Camp and the children's programs. When he retired from Olivet
Church in 1937, he remained active at Olivet Institute Camp and fought
to stave off a foreclosure on the property. Rev. Barr's struggle to
raise capital for Olivet Camp stopped suddenly when he was stricken
with a heart attack and died in 1943. A new drive to pay off the mortgage
was successful later that year. The camp was renamed to Norman B. Barr
Camp (NBBC) in 1946 when it became a non-profit corporation consisting
of all volunteer members. |
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Over the years, the mission
of NBBC refocused on our Children's Program. A dormitory was built,
and later new showers and updated rest rooms were added just for the
children. Free Summer Camp programs with a Christian theme continue
to be offered serving children with special needs. Counselors are carefully
selected each year to care for the children and lead the program activities.
In addition, weekly religious services, which have been a tradition
since Olivet Camp opened, are held every Sunday during the summer season
in the camp's Bowman Chapel. Each year, the camp's volunteers spend
countless hours maintaining and improving the camp facilities and grounds.
Several new structures have been added while others undergo repairs
each year. As a result of the dedication and effort of the volunteers
during the camp's first century, along with donations from companies
and individuals, NBBC remains a vibrant and living memorial to Rev.
Norman B. Barr and his life's selfless mission devoted to the less fortunate. |
| Thousands of children with
special needs have enjoyed totally free summer camp experiences they
would not have had, if not for Rev. Barr. It was his dream that,
"...this camp should go on forever ..." and it is
our endeavor to make that dream come true. |
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