Frederick William Gunn

Frederick William Gunn (October 4, 1816 – August 16, 1881) was an educator, American abolitionist, and outdoorsman, who in 1850 founded The Gunnery, an independent school in the small town of Washington, Connecticut, and America's first summer camp.[1] An iconoclast and educational reformer, Gunn endured social ostracism and community exile for his abolitionist beliefs in his early life, but was able to return to his hometown of Washington, where, in addition to the school, the library and local history museum were dedicated in his name and that of his wife, Abigail (July 18, 1820 ‒ September 13, 1908).[2] Gunn was a moral beacon for the wider community accepting girls, African Americans, Native Americans, and international students into his school. Among his first students were two children of abolitionist and author Harriet Beecher Stowe.[3] A staunch defender of his values and a natural leader of men, Gunn was a conductor on the Underground Railroad,[4] an innovator in curriculum and student development,[5] and is recognized as the originator of leisure camping in the United States.[6]

Frederick W. Gunn's carte-de-visite, 1860s

References

Krimsky, Paula Gibson. "Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn's School Transforms Victorian-era Education". Connecticut History. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
"Gunn Memorial Library & Museum". Historic Buildings of Connecticut.
Hedrick, Joan D. (1994). Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life. Oxford University Press. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-19-506639-5.
Strother, Horatio (1962). The Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. p. 123-124.
Gibson, William Hamilton (1887). The Master of The Gunnery. The Gunn Memorial Association. p. 173.
Turner, Ross (January 2018). "Great Things Have Small Beginnings". Camping Magazine. American Camping Association.

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[1] Krimsky, Paula Gibson. "Reading, Writing, and the Great Outdoors: Frederick Gunn's School Transforms Victorian-era Education". Connecticut History. Retrieved November 27, 2018.

[2] "Gunn Memorial Library & Museum". Historic Buildings of Connecticut.

[3] Hedrick, Joan D. (1994). Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life. Oxford University Press. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-19-506639-5.

[4] Strother, Horatio (1962). The Underground Railroad in Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. p. 123-124.

[5] Gibson, William Hamilton (1887). The Master of The Gunnery. The Gunn Memorial Association. p. 173.

[6] Turner, Ross (January 2018). "Great Things Have Small Beginnings". Camping Magazine. American Camping Association.