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A Campers’ Republic: How Camping Became a National Ritual

Dr. Phoebe Young
At first glance, camping out seems like a simple proposition: a chance to get back to nature and get away from it all. A closer look at how this recreational habit got built into American culture and federal infrastructure reveals a more complex story of dying Sequoia trees, the Great Depression, and hopes for democracy.
Dr. Phoebe Young is Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado Boulder where she teaches environmental and cultural history of the U.S. and the American West. She currently serves as the History Department’s Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies and holds a Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy. Her books include, California Vieja: Culture and Memory in a Modern American Place (2006) and Rendering Nature: Animals, Bodies, Places, Politics (2015, co-edited with Marguerite S. Shaffer). She is currently completing a new book project entitled, Camping Grounds: Public Nature in America from the Civil War to Occupy (forthcoming, 2021).
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