Surprise Lake Camp

Surprise Lake Camp
Surprise Lake Camp from Breakneck Ridge to the northwest
Location
382 Lake Surprise Road
Cold Spring, NY 10516
Coordinates41°27′39″N 73°57′0″W / 41.46083°N 73.95000°W / 41.46083; -73.95000
Information
TypeJewish summer camp
Religious affiliationJudaism
Established1902 (1902)
FounderEducational Alliance
PresidentMichael Zbar
DirectorAdam Bendeson
GenderCo-educational
AffiliationACA
Websitesurpriselake.org

Surprise Lake Camp is a non-profit sleepaway camp located on over 400 acres (1.6 km2) in North Highlands, New York (approximately 60 miles (97 km), north of New York City). It is the oldest Jewish summer camp in the United States.[1]

History

Founded in 1901 by the Educational Alliance as a camp for Jewish boys from the tenements of Manhattan's Lower East Side around the lake that Breakneck Brook rises from, it incorporated as Surprise Lake Camp in 1902. In 1911 the 92nd Street Y joined in the operation of the camp, and in 1917 the camp became an independent agency within the newly formed Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. Surprise lake camp first admitted girls in 1952, after the Women's League established a girls section in the camp.[2] The camp continues to operate as a summer camp for children from the New York metropolitan area.[3][4][5][6] In 2005, the camp sold 200 acres and granted a conservation easement over an additional 465 acres of camp property to the Open Space Institute, thus ensuring the preservation of these undeveloped lands adjacent to Hudson Highlands State Park.[7] The camp was the setting of a popular 2013 viral video on the topic of feminine hygiene entitled Camp Gyno.[8][9]

In its early years of operation, the camp was subjected to antisemitic demonstrations of cross burning by local members of the Ku Klux Klan, but the camp developed a better relationship with the surrounding residents over time.[10] For its campers who came from immigrant homes, many of them Yiddish-speaking, the camp emphasized acculturation to mainstream American styles of speech and appearance.[10] Surprise Lake Camp is part of a large-scale archival project directed by YIVO (the Institute for Jewish Research) with the goal of preserving the historical record of the Jews of New York City.[11]

Former campers and staff

Among Surprise Lake's first campers was Eddie Cantor, who credited his youthful performances at Surprise Lake Camp (also depicted in the 1953 biopic The Eddie Cantor Story[12]) with giving him the encouragement to pursue show business. Upon achieving success as an entertainer, he became one of the camp's most ardent supporters. He was a member of the Surprise Lake Camp Board of Directors, and a theater at the camp was named for him.[13][14]

Other notable Surprise Lake campers have included Neil Diamond (who has identified Pete Seeger's visits to the camp as his earliest exposure to a musical role model),[15][16] Jax,[17] Joseph Heller,[18] Jerry Stiller,[19] Gene Simmons,[20] Larry King, Neil Simon, Cody Brotter, and Walter Matthau.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Sales, Amy L.; Saxe, Leonard (2004). "How Goodly are Thy Tents": Summer Camps as Jewish Socializing Experiences. UPNE. ISBN 978-1-58465-347-9.
  2. ^ Lapis, Diane (2021-08-31). "Jewish Camps In and Around Beacon Part 3: Surprise Lake and Eden Village". beaconhebrewalliance.org. Retrieved 2026-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Lorge, Michael M.; Zola, Gary Phillip (2006-10-15). A Place of Our Own: The Rise of Reform Jewish Camping. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5293-6.
  4. ^ "Educational Alliance |NY Nonprofit - Our History". www.edalliance.org. Archived from the original on 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  5. ^ "Jewish Camping". 2007-01-01. Archived from the original on 2014-06-11. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Purdy, Matthew (2002-08-11). "Our Towns; The Coolest Kid in the Camp Has Loved 50 Fun-Filled Summers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  7. ^ "One moment, please..." old.nynjtc.org. Archived from the original on 2024-09-15. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  8. ^ Wiener, Julie (2013-10-27). "'Camp Gyno' creator on preparing girls for puberty". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  9. ^ "Cold Spring Video Goes Viral", Hudson Valley Reporter, August 5, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Paris, Leslie (2008-01-01). Children's Nature: The Rise of the American Summer Camp. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-6750-4.
  11. ^ a b Bernstein, Nina (2006-11-07). "A Bid to Save and Share Pieces of Jewish Heritage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  12. ^ Gevinson, Alan (1997). Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20964-0.
  13. ^ Eddie Cantor, "Show Business", The Palm Beach Post, January 16, 1955.
  14. ^ Fuchs, Marek (2004-08-28). "Religion Journal; Back to Nature, and Back to the No-Frills Bar Mitzvah". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  15. ^ Holden, Stephen (1986-07-20). "COMING HOME TO PERFORM, NEIL DIAMOND TAKES STOCK OF LIFE AT THE TOP". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  16. ^ "Pete Seeger, Neil Diamond and me". The Washington Post. 2014-01-28. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  17. ^ "American Idol Finalist Jax Shares How Camp Shaped Her". UJA Federation of New York. 13 July 2015.
  18. ^ Daugherty, Tracy (2011-08-02). Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller. Macmillan + ORM. ISBN 978-1-4299-8784-4.
  19. ^ Stiller, Jerry (2000-08-08). Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-1146-8.
  20. ^ Simmons, Gene (2002). Kiss and Make-Up. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-609-81002-6.
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