Camping Grounds
Public Nature in American Life from the Civil War to the Occupy Movement
Seiten
2021
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-537241-0 (ISBN)
Oxford University Press Inc (Verlag)
978-0-19-537241-0 (ISBN)
Camping Grounds narrates a quintessentially American tradition of sleeping outdoors, from the Civil War to the present, that will appeal to academics, outdoor enthusiasts, and general readers alike.
An exploration of the hidden history of camping in American life that connects a familiar recreational pastime to camps for functional needs and political purposes.
Camping appears to be a simple proposition, a time-honored way of getting away from it all. Pack up the car and hit the road in search of a shady spot in the great outdoors. For a modest fee, reserve the basic infrastructure--a picnic table, a parking spot, and a place to build a fire. Pitch the tent and unroll the sleeping bags. Sit under the stars with friends or family and roast some marshmallows. This book reveals that, for all its appeal, the simplicity of camping is deceptive, its history and meanings far from obvious.
Why do some Americans find pleasure in sleeping outside, particularly when so many others, past and present, have had to do so for reasons other than recreation? Never only a vacation choice, camping has been something people do out of dire necessity and as a tactic of political protest. Yet the dominant interpretation of camping as a modern recreational ideal has obscured the connections to these other roles. A closer look at the history of camping since the Civil War reveals a deeper significance of this American tradition and its links to core beliefs about nature and national belonging.
Camping Grounds rediscovers unexpected and interwoven histories of sleeping outside. It uses extensive research to trace surprising links between veterans, tramps, John Muir, African American freedpeople, Indian communities, and early leisure campers in the nineteenth century; tin-can tourists, federal campground designers, Depression-era transients, family campers, backpacking enthusiasts, and political activists in the twentieth century; and the crisis of the unsheltered and the tent-based Occupy Movement in the twenty-first. These entwined stories show how Americans camp to claim a place in the American republic and why the outdoors is critical to how we relate to nature, the nation, and each other.
An exploration of the hidden history of camping in American life that connects a familiar recreational pastime to camps for functional needs and political purposes.
Camping appears to be a simple proposition, a time-honored way of getting away from it all. Pack up the car and hit the road in search of a shady spot in the great outdoors. For a modest fee, reserve the basic infrastructure--a picnic table, a parking spot, and a place to build a fire. Pitch the tent and unroll the sleeping bags. Sit under the stars with friends or family and roast some marshmallows. This book reveals that, for all its appeal, the simplicity of camping is deceptive, its history and meanings far from obvious.
Why do some Americans find pleasure in sleeping outside, particularly when so many others, past and present, have had to do so for reasons other than recreation? Never only a vacation choice, camping has been something people do out of dire necessity and as a tactic of political protest. Yet the dominant interpretation of camping as a modern recreational ideal has obscured the connections to these other roles. A closer look at the history of camping since the Civil War reveals a deeper significance of this American tradition and its links to core beliefs about nature and national belonging.
Camping Grounds rediscovers unexpected and interwoven histories of sleeping outside. It uses extensive research to trace surprising links between veterans, tramps, John Muir, African American freedpeople, Indian communities, and early leisure campers in the nineteenth century; tin-can tourists, federal campground designers, Depression-era transients, family campers, backpacking enthusiasts, and political activists in the twentieth century; and the crisis of the unsheltered and the tent-based Occupy Movement in the twenty-first. These entwined stories show how Americans camp to claim a place in the American republic and why the outdoors is critical to how we relate to nature, the nation, and each other.
Phoebe S.K. Young is an associate professor of history at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is the author of California Vieja: Culture and Memory in a Modern American Place.
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Public Nature
Part One: 1850s-1880s
Ch. 1. Saving the Union
Ch. 2. Seeing the Country
Part Two: 1890s-1940s
Ch. 3. Tramp Style
Ch. 4. Campers' Republic
Part Three: 1950s-2010s
Ch. 5. The Back to Nature Crowd
ch. 6. Tents and Public Statements
Epilogue: "We MUST Camp"
Notes
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 29.04.2021 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 65 halftones |
| Verlagsort | New York |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 236 x 157 mm |
| Gewicht | 726 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Natur / Technik ► Natur / Ökologie |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-19-537241-7 / 0195372417 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-19-537241-0 / 9780195372410 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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