Since the early 20th century girls from the Boston area had dreamed of a West End House Camp for Girls, and in the dawn of the 21st century, a benefactor named Laurie Kaplan arrived on the scene and made the dream come true...
The West End House brand of youth services dates back to 1906, first established in the West End of Boston by philanthropist James J. Storrow. The West End House was a charter member of what is today the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, also first organized in 1906. Storrow also founded the West End House Camp for Boys, among the tall pines overlooking Long Pond in Parsonsfield, Maine, in 1908.
In 1975, the West End House clubhouse, which had been relocated to Allston, MA, became coeducational for two days per week. Separate lockers and showers for girls were funded by the Charles Hayden Foundation and the Permanent Charity Fund of Boston, and in 1978, the West End House in Allston became fully coeducational.
As the Director of the West End House clubhouse and West End House Camp, William "Snoopy" Margolin oversaw the 1970's integration of girls in Allston, and in 1990 he arranged the first program that brought girls to the shores of Long Pond in Maine, to participate in traditional summer camp activities over long weekends, hosted by WEHC.
And then, finally, Laurie Kaplan, daughter of past West End House leader Joseph Kaplan, first funded summer camp programming exclusively for girls and young women of the West End House in 2006. The West End House Girls Camp, Inc. was then founded in 2008. That same year, WEHC resolved to lease 20 acres of its own land to us for $1, in celebration of their centennial year, and in late 2009 we purchased additional neighboring property, to altogether develop a girls-only campus on Long Pond.
We opened our doors in Maine to pioneering girls in 2011, and we have since continued to grow our West End House summer camp, for girls to call their own, the likes of which boys have enjoyed since 1908.
The girls of the growing West End House Girls Camp community are grateful to Laurie Kaplan for all she has done to endow the dawn of a new century with a revered tradition of learning and living in harmony, and making friends for life. When you are one the girls of WEHGC, you are always one of the girls.
