Henry S. Jacobs Camp - Development

Development

In 1954, a group of Jewish parents primarily from some small towns of the Mississippi Delta decided that their children should have a Jewish communal experience that they could not receive at home. A summer camp was established where these small-town children could meet each other in a Jewish environment. However, the camp organizer soon realized that they would be unable to raise enough money to build a camp on their own. They contacted Celeste Orkin from Jackson, Mississippi.

Mrs. Orkin was an important leader for the state’s Jewish youth, and she quickly became excited about the prospect of a camp, helping to start the Camp Association of Southern Temples (CAST). Orkin was the driving force behind significant fundraising for the camp's construction, but it was still not enough. She recognized that, despite the leaders’ best efforts, Mississippi Jews alone could not put together the necessary funds, so she called her friend Henry Switzer Jacobs for help. Jacobs was a long-time youth worker, organist and religious school director at Temple Sinai in New Orleans, Louisiana. He quickly got much of the “big city” energy of New Orleans behind the camp idea. In the early 1960s, Jacobs called upon Rudi Scheidt of Memphis, Tennessee for more help. Scheidt, in turn, suggested that the leaders of CAST call Julian Allenberg to galvanize the Memphis community.

In perhaps the most important innovation in making the camp happen, Julian Allenberg developed an idea he called “Fair Share” which called for each congregation in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and West Tennessee to commit to giving an amount of money proportional to the number of families (members) in the congregation—all of it whom, it was felt, stood to benefit from the camp’s existence. The Fair Share System forced the communities to raise the necessary money as well as created community support for the camp. By 1968, the money had been gathered and the land for the camp was purchased.

The property in Utica, Mississippi was originally purchased for $100,000. Construction began in 1969. The gates of Jacobs Camp officially opened the summer of 1970. Jacobs did not live to see the camp. He died of a nervous system disorder in 1965. In honor of his efforts and memory, the camp was named after him.