If you are not familiar with the term Camp Founder Girls, it was the first summer camp for black girls, founded in 1924 in San Antonio by Mattie Landry.
In the 1940s, Landry and some of her supporters purchased seven acres of land in Boerne to create Camp Elvira, named for Landry’s mother. Camp Elvira eventually included cabins, a dining hall and a recreation area. This summer camp in Boerne was in operation until the 1960s.
Kathryn Adam Hurst of the Kendall County Historical Society researched and wrote a great in-depth article on Camp Elvira for the Dietert Historical Archives Newsletter. If you are interested in reading it, please see us at the library.
Additional information on Camp Founder Girls and Camp THE BOOKWORM
Elvira can be found on the library’s BiblioBoard site.
We have been given permission to show the documentary “Founder Girls,” about Camp Founder Girls, which was released in 2023. It was directed by Contessa Gayles and we’ll be showing the documentary in the Community Room at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Don’t miss our current gallery exhibit “Honoring Black Voices,” through Feb. 22, which includes information and visuals on Lincoln Elementary School in San Antonio. The exhibit is posted in partnership with the San Antonio African American Community Archives and Museum.
The exhibit also includes information and images on churches, schools and organizations in Kendall, Kerr and Gillespie counties. Feel free to direct questions about the documentary or exhibit to Sarah Habeeb, the library’s archivist and Memory Lab Coordinator, at: [email protected].
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