Dawn Schumann on working at the Presbyterian Camp

Oral History

Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

Name/Title

Dawn Schumann on working at the Presbyterian Camp

Entry/Object ID

2024.41.200

Scope and Content

Dawn Schumann began her love affair with Saugatuck in 1946 when she was invited to join a friend, Louise Bible, to attend the Presbyterian Family Camp. Into her teens, when she and Louise were employed for $3/day to serve meals, she returned to this special life-changing place. Her dream then was to live at the edge of Lake Michigan down the beach from the camp. College, marriage, children, considerable community activism, and a divorce did not keep her from returning to Saugatuck as often as she could. When she met and married George Schumann, the two eventually created a stunning Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home overlooking the beach a matter of yards from her beloved camp. Also included in this entry are PDFs of writings by Dawn Schumann: "Paradise" A reminiscence of her time at the Presbyterian Camps "Mom’s Stories" Description of Dawn’s "Auntie Mame" moth "Judge Not" A poignant story about uniting with her biological father when she was 43 "Vierling Family Information" Her mother's family tree "Preservation Speech at Felt Mansion May 8, 2007" An outline of her speech contrasting 1960s preservation in Oak Park with 1990s Douglas "Late Breaking News" About the Formation of the Douglas Environmental Defense Act to stop the development of MI-RO. 2002 Also included is a copy of the Presbyterian Camp [Camp Gray] historical outline to 1989 compiled by Rev. William Lankton. J. Shack 6-2009

Collection

Historic Preservation, 1897 Forward Movement Park, Gray and Presbyterian Camps -2014, Development, resistance to

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2024.41

Acquisition Method

Found in Collection

Credit Line

To view this recording, scroll down to the bottom of this entry and click the blue web link. This video was created by Saugatuck-Douglas History Center volunteers or was donated to the Center in a good faith effort to preserve local history. If you feel this content should not be available to the public — or have additional information that will add context to this interview — please contact the SDHC Archives at archives@mysdhistory.org.

Oral History Details

Interviewee

Schumann, Dawn Valerie (Follett) Goshorn

Interviewer

Shack, John

Interview Date

Jun 4, 2009

Length of Interview

Web Links and URLs

https://sdhc-collections.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/videos/200-SchumannDawn-PresbyterianCampTour.mp4

Create Date

November 9, 2024

Update Date

May 2, 2025