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Legacy of Camp Gertrude Coleman


Camp Gertrude Coleman in Trussville, Alabama has been an outdoor adventure for thousands of Girl Scouts since 1925. Gertrude Davidson was born in Springfield, Ohio on August 7, 1887 to Frank P. Davidson of Harrisburg, PA and Eleanor (Elma) S. Davidson of Bouremouth, England.  Frank Davidson moved the family to California after taking a teaching position and starting a school in San Diego.  As Gertrude and her brother grew older, they moved to Berkeley, California to attended school at the University of California.  She graduated in 1904 with a degree, we believe, in literature.  After graduation, spent a year in Florence, Italy, studied at the Sarbonne in Paris, attended Oxford University in England and completed her studies in literature back in Florence, Italy.  She traveled throughout Europe and resided overseas for ten years.

Tragically, her brother Charles S. Davidson, a well respected engineer in San Francisco, died on a trip to South Africa in 1910.  He had been married just nine months and left behind a wife and a son he was never able to meet.  His wife became the dean of women at the University of California in 1947 and his son went on to be a prominent physician in Boston.

During WWI, Gertrude served the effort where she could, including with the American Red Cross unit organized in Italy by Mrs. Thomas Nelson Page.  She was also the head of two large YMCA leave areas in France.

She married John Shields Coleman on July 7, 1921 in California and resided in Birmingham shortly thereafter.  She was instrumental in establishing Girl Scouts in Birmingham and Jefferson County at a time when there were a lot of extracurricular activities for girls that, served as the first Jefferson County Girl Scout commissioner.  She died on November 22, 1924, a week after giving birth to her only child, a son named Davidson Coleman, from eclampsia at the age of 37. Her son died six weeks later.  She and her son are buried at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

Mr. Coleman supported the endeavors of his wife and helped draw up the papers that incorporated the Jefferson County Girl Scouts on May 22, 1925 for the express purpose of establishing a camp.  After locating a prime piece property in the northeastern portion of Jefferson County, they raised the money, purchased the property, and named it after their friend and fellow scout Gertrude, who had died less than a year before.  

Thanks to Gertrude Coleman's example of the empowerment of women, her husband's dedication to creating a lasting legacy, and her fellow scouts, Camp Coleman has provided decades of excitement from sliding down Suicide Slide, trekking to the caves, sitting on the docks, watching barges flicker down the Cahaba River, swaying across the Swinging Bridge, visiting Fairy Rock, passing the Troll under the bridge, swimming, canoeing and exploring happy trails on horseback …what fond memories of Camp Coleman and all of the Girl Scout life-long friends we made!

Camp Gertrude Coleman consists of 34 wooden structures situated on approximately 140 acres along the Cahaba River.  The camp has been in continuous operation since it opened in 1925, including during World War II when most camp facilities closed.  It is one of the longest continually operating Girl Scout camps in the nation and was listed in the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 2012.

Camp Coleman is almost 100 years old and is in need of funding to help preserve the facilities for current and future Girl Scout generations.  Thousands of Girl Scouts have attended camp here, met lifelong friends, and developed skills that have helped them become the great women of today and tomorrow.  Help Friends of Camp Coleman raise the funds needed to continue the work that the brave women of the 1920s started when they formed this camp and named it after their wonderful and caring friend, Gertrude Coleman.  Let us continue their legacy while building one of oupr own!

Friends of Camp Coleman was established in 2012 and exists to preserve Camp Coleman and its outdoor opportunities in order to build girls of courage, confidence and character now and in the future.  We are a 501(c)3 non-profit which raises money to help with repairs, improvements, programming, and volunteer coordination for activities at Camp Coleman.  Join us today to help preserve and protect this truly unique and vital resource for future generations.

http://friendsofcampcoleman.com/

Organizer

Brooke O'Brien
Organizer
Trussville, AL

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