Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140
RS 11/5/3
Iowa State University
College of Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp: "Camp Marston"
Records, 1923-2001
Descriptive summary
creator: |
Iowa State University. College of Engineering. Department of Civil Engineering. Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp: "Camp Marston" |
title: |
Records |
dates: |
1923-2001 |
extent: |
0.63 linear feet (1 document box, 1 half-document box) |
collection number: |
RS 11/5/3 |
repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University. |
Administrative information
access: |
Open for research |
publication rights: |
Consult Head, Special Collections Department |
preferred citation: |
Iowa State University Camp Marston Records, RS 11/5/3, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library. |
Historical note
The Iowa State College (University) catalog has included civil engineering courses since 1871, but the department was not officially founded until 1898. In the 1880s, they began holding two-week summer camps for students to gain surveying experience in the field. When John S. Dodds joined the faculty in 1917, he out sought a more remote location for the camp, finally deciding upon an abandoned commercial fishing camp on Rainy Lake, one of the four lakes that mark the border between the United States and Canada, in 1921. Dodds determined that the isolation of the site enabled the group to recreate primitive frontier conditions and have the most authentic surveying experience possible. The camp was named for Anson Marston, the first Dean of Engineering at Iowa State, and the first camp was held in 1923. An average of thirty-five men (no women were allowed) per year spent six weeks working twelve hour days at Camp Marston until 1938, when Thomas Agg, Dean of Engineering visited the site and declared it too remote. From 1939 until the 1960s when summer camps were discontinued, the students traveled to Wirt, Minnesota. |
Collection description
The collection includes several reports about the summer surveying camp known as Camp Marston, many of which were written by J. S. Dodds. Also among the records are brochures, correspondence, enrollment lists, a photograph album, two videotapes and a magazine article compiled about Camp Marston. |
Container list
Box |
Folder |
Title |
Dates |
1 |
1 |
"Report of 1923 Surveying Summer Camp." |
ca. 1923 |
1 |
2 |
"Report of the 1923 Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp" by J. S. Dodds |
1924 |
1 |
3 |
"Ames Summer Camp, An Account of the 1923 Camp" by R. W. Herreman |
1925 |
1 |
4 |
"Report of the 1924 Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp, Rainy Lake, MN, June 7 to July 18, 1924" by J. S. Dodds |
1925 |
1 |
5 |
"Report of the 1924 Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp, Rainy Lake, MN, June 7 to July 18, 1924" by J. S. Dodds |
1925 |
1 |
6 |
"Report of the 1925 Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp, the 3rd at Rainy Lake, MN, June 12 to July 22, 1925" by J. S. Dodds |
1925 |
1 |
7 |
"Report of 1928 Summer Camp" |
ca. 1928 |
1 |
8 |
"Report of the 1929 Civil Engineering Surveying Summer Camp, Rainy Lake, MN, June 7 to July 20, 1929" by J. S. Dodds |
1929 |
1 |
9 |
"Report of the 1933 Civil Engineering Summer Surveying Camp, Camp Marston, Rainer, MN, June 9 to July 20, 1933" by J. S. Dodds |
1935 |
1 |
10 |
"Report of the 1935 Civil Engineering Summer Camp, Camp Marston, Rainy Lake, MN" by J. S. Dodds |
1935 |
1 |
11 |
"Camp Marston" booklet |
1935 |
1 |
12 |
"Report of the 1936 Civil Engineering Summer Camp" by J. S. Dodds |
1936 |
1 |
13 |
"Report of the 1937 Civil Engineering Summer Camp" by J. S. Dodds |
1937 |
1 |
14 |
"Report of the 1938 Civil Engineering Summer Camp" by J. S. Dodds |
1938 |
1 |
15 |
"Report of the 1939 Summer Camp, Wirt, MN" by J. S. Dodd |
1939‑1940 |
2 |
1 |
"Report of the 2nd Annual Iowa State Surveying Camp, Wirt, MN, August 8 - September 14, 1940" by J. S. Dodds |
1940 |
2 |
2 |
Correspondence |
1936-1940 |
2 |
3 |
Descriptive Brochures |
1925; 1929 |
2 |
4 |
Enrollment Lists |
1923-1938 |
2 |
5 |
Reports on possible location for Civil Engineering Summer Camp |
1923 |
2 |
6 |
1923 Camp |
1923 |
2 |
7 |
1924 Camp |
1924 |
2 |
8 |
1925 Camp |
1925 |
2 |
9 |
1926 Camp |
1926 |
2 |
10 |
1927 Camp |
1927 |
2 |
11 |
1928 Camp |
1928 |
2 |
12 |
1932 Camp |
1932 |
2 |
13 |
1935 Camp |
1935 |
2 |
14 |
1938 Camp |
1938 |
2 |
15 |
1939 Camp |
1939 |
2 |
16 |
1953 Camp |
1953 |
2 |
17 |
Surveying Teachers Conference Photograph Album Assembled by D.S. Trowbridge |
1937 |
2 |
18 |
Gieske, Carole, "Camp Marston: An Iowa State treasure in Minnesota's Northwoods" VISIONS Summer 2001 (photocopy) |
2001 |
Map |
Case |
Location Survey, East Brown Scenic Loop, Camp Marston - Ranier, MN |
June 1938 |
VIDEO |
Vide 002 374 |
State Historical Society of Iowa: "Life at Camp Marston" (3/4" video) |
1995 |
VIDEO |
Vide 004 873 |
Voyageurs National Park presents Memories of Camp Marston |
2001 |
| DVD | DVD 002 445 |
1937 |