The Christine Camp Archives: Waldenside

Christine Camp in her kitchen at Waldenside, the family home, Red Haw, Ohio (ca. 1986, photo by Twyla Jones, The Daily Record).

The Kennedy Administration is highlighted in The Christine Camp Archives: Waldenside, the personal archives of Christine Camp (Class of 1951, Distinguished Alumni 1990).

In the early 1950s, Camp was one of the first female intelligence officers to work for the Central Intelligence Agency. In the late 1950s, she was one of few women to work as a member of the Washington press corps.

She worked on John F. Kennedy's first presidential campaign, assigned to research areas of Ohio for "the Kennedy card file" that helped him to win the state via established contacts in local politics. Camp served as assistant to White House Press Secretary, Pierre Salinger. In the early 1970s, she worked as Deputy Press Secretary for George McGovern.

Her archives includes scrapbooks, framed photographs, artwork, monographs, memorabilia, recordings, and transcripts of a series of interviews she had done for the Kennedy Library. The monographs include many inscribed and signed editions from members of the Kennedy family and the administrative staff. A final galley of Pierre Salinger's "With Kennedy" includes Camp's suggested changes in the margins. The collection includes many impressive photographs, including a photograph of John F. Kennedy taken by Mark Shaw at the Kennedy Compound Beach in 1963. The photograph is framed and inscribed by the photographer. It was given to Camp as a Christmas gift in December 1963. A framed print, given to select members of the staff for their efforts during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, is inscribed to Camp from John F. Kennedy.

The collection also contains historical information regarding the Camp family house and farm, Waldenside, located in Red Haw, Ohio.

Christine Camp in front of Waldenside, the family home, Red
Haw, Ohio (ca. 1986, photo by Twyla Jones, The Daily Record).