Tamiment

Tamiment, first known as Camp Tamiment, was an American resort located in the Pocono Mountains of Pike County, Pennsylvania which existed from 1921 through 2005. Originally established by the Rand School of Social Science working together with various trade unions from New York City as an educational center and rural retreat, Tamiment and its associated playhouse later passed into private hands and served as a training grounds for a wide array of actors, choreographers, and comics.

The resort was liquidated in 2005 to make room for residential housing development.

History

Background

By 1920 the Socialist Party-affiliated Rand School of Social Science of New York City found itself in grave financial difficulty following costly attempts at government prosecution and raids by the Lusk Committee of the New York legislature — actions associated with the First Red Scare.[1] Rand School executive secretary Bertha Mailly, constantly seeking mechanisms to raise funds for support of the school, conceived of the idea of establishing a summer school and camp in reasonably close proximity to New York City which might be attended by socialists and trade union members, gaining the financial support of their unions and helping to subsidize the operations of the school.

In the summer of 1919 Mailly had visited Unity House in Bushkill, an unincorporated community in Northeastern Pennsylvania close to New York City — a summer retreat operated by the Socialist-dominated International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU).[1] While she was there she learned that an adjoining 2,100 acre property was for sale and envisioned its acquisition for an expanded resort site.[1]

Mailly promptly made a deposit towards purchase of the site and successfully solicited financial donations from the socialist and labor movement to complete purchase of the property.[1] It was on this site that Camp Tamiment would be established, the name selected being an old Native American word for the area.[1]

Establishment and development

Camp Tamiment was opened in the summer of 1921 and immediately gained sufficient support from participants and their affiliated unions to cover operating costs.[1] The resort would remain in the hands of the Socialist Party and its factional successor, the Social Democratic Federation of America, until 1956, eventually generating between half and three-quarters of the Rand School's annual operating budget.[2] The camp was formally operated by a legal entity known as the People's Educational Camp Society.[2]

Growth of the camp was aided by its non-profit tax status, a result of ongoing educational and cultural programs at the location and the immediate reinvestment of surplus revenue into the development of the site and expansion of the camp's activities.[2] The site had hosted regular conferences and educational symposia, particularly after the split of the Socialist Party and establishment of the Social Democratic Federation in 1936.[2]

This favorable tax situation began to change in the 1950s, when the government became cognizant of the growing size and profitability of the enterprise, which had become one of the largest and most modern in the state of Pennsylvania.[2] Although nominally independent of the Rand School of Social Science, in March 1956 the People's Educational Camp Society formally took title to the New York school and its reading room in an attempt to preserve its non-profit status.[2] The Rand School was closed and its educational activities moved directly to the Pennsylvania camp.[2]

Later years

The lucrative Tamiment operation remained a target of the Internal Revenue Service, however, until in February 1963 the People's Educational Camp Society finally lost its legal appeal to maintain non-profit tax status.[3] These new tax costs, combined with the declining size and fall in trade union support of the socialist movement, forced sale of Camp Tamiment to new commercial owners.[3]

Following its 1963 sale Tamiment effectively became a commercial entertainment center. An associated golf course designed by architect Robert Trent Jones was the site of an annual golf tournament hosted by prominent actor and entertainer Danny Kaye.[4] Comedians playing at the resort included the likes of Woody Allen, Shelley Berman, Joey Bishop, Carol Burnett, and Imogene Coca among scores of others.[4]

The resort's massive grand ballroom, decorated with Oriental rugs and contemporary stained glass windows, was frequented by a number of prominent headlining musical entertainers, including Ben Vereen, Lola Falana, Robert Goulet, Frankie Valli, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and others.[5]

Dissolution

In the 1980s, Tamiment was sold to noted Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton, who purchased the property in anticipation of approval of casino gambling in the region.[5] The time was not yet ripe for gambling's approval, however, and the resort was subsequently sold to a series of speculative investors.[5]

In March 2005 Tamiment owner Suong Hong sold the resort for $64 million to developers Greystone Capital Partners of Paoli, Pennsylvania.[5] The firm immediately announced its intention to convert the 2,200 acre property into a residential housing development following demolition of existing buildings on the site.[5] Remaining movable property and fixtures were sold at auction on May 14 and 15, 2005.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Swanson, Dorothy (April 1989). "The Tamiment Institute/Ben Josephson Library and the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University". Library Quarterly 59 (2): 153. In JSTOR
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Swanson, p. 154.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Swanson, p. 155.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Contents of Tamiment Resort in Poconos to be Auctioned May 14 & 15" (Press release). Teel Auctions. May 10, 2005. Archived from the original on August 12, 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Devlin, Ron (May 15, 2005). "Tamiment bidders find bargains full of memories". The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania). Archived from the original on 2010-10-03. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

Further reading