Grace Camp

During Women’s History Month, looking back at the often unsung achievements of women provides new insights on what is possible. Not that long ago, when few women reached the board room or elected office, women worked behind the scenes, often completing the efforts started by others or laying the groundwork for great achievement that would eventually come, whether or not the groundbreakers got the credit.

Story

by Murray Bishoff

Forty years ago this month, the Monett Chamber of Commerce gave its highest honor, the Community Service Award, to Grace Camp. Hers is one of those stories.

Grace was generally known as the wife of E. Earl Camp, Monett’s school superintendent for 25 years. But Grace was much more than that, as a closer look shows.

Coming from humble roots, Grace Wright was born in 1905 in Chicago, where her father worked for a steam ship company. After he died of tuberculosis, despite the family relocating to Arizona, she and her mother moved in with relatives in Mound City, Missouri. She graduated from Tarkio College seeking a career in teaching, and met E.E. Camp, who was teaching and coaching at a small town in north Missouri. They came to Monett in the late 1930s, where they both lived out their days.

Smart, industrious and committed, Grace was a woman of her time, very proper, devoted to her church and the children that came into her care as a teacher. She also knew teachers plant the seeds for the future, even if no one sees it at the time.

Back in that period, communities had invisible people, family members kept out of sight for one reason or another, especially if they had a disability or special needs. Think of the context: the Monett Area Extended Employment (Sheltered) Workshop did not come into existence until 1968. The Missouri General Assembly did not authorize special education programs in the public schools until 1973, and the Barry-Lawrence County Development Center, targeting services for pre-school age children, started that summer.

About 20 years earlier, in the early 1950s, Grace Camp started special ed ucation in Monett, on her own, with minimal support from the Monett school board. She secured use of a room in the basement of Monett’s 1905 high school, and used her own car to go to the homes of special needs children to bring them to her class and take them home.

“She wrote her own curriculum,” said Jeanne Ann Camp, who married the Camps’ adopted son, Paul. “She felt like she needed to take the kids as far as they could go. She would teach them reading, math, and to at least print or write. She took the risk of being ostracized herself. I believe she would have had the nerve to do it even if she hadn’t been married to Earl. Sometimes she just did stuff.” especially for the betterment of handicapped children. She was totally the instigator of the special education program.”

Ralph and Mary K. Scott remember Grace well, especially for the graciousness of inviting them into the Camp home when Ralph came to town for a job interview in 1951, when Mary K.

Ralph recalled when he took on duties as head coach in Monett in 1957, he sought out potential athletes. One prospect, a ninth grader named Joe Watkins, came down with muscular dystrophy, and initially was given three months to live.

“I got involved with Joe,” said Ralph, “but low and behold I couldn’t find him. I was told he was over with Mrs. Camp. He could walk, but dragged a foot. She got ahold of him and had him with her, helping her work with the handicapped children. He loved it. I made him a student manager. If I couldn’t find him, I knew where he was, with her. She was so dedicated to making that happen.”

Grace’s efforts impacted many families. David and Margaret Whitlock moved back to Monett from Ohio so that their daughter, Candy, could bene-

The Whitlocks’ daughter Susan Whitlock Kelley said, “We moved back to Monett so Candy could be in the new ‘special education’ class that Monett was going to offer...and it was a new concept. [Our parents] thought Candy flourished with Mrs. Camp’s instruction.”

The Whitlocks became very involved in the community. Both David, who ran a local insurance agency, and Margaret would volunteer in a number of organizations, such as the Jaycees, the American Legion, the Masons, BLARC and the Ozark Festival Orchestra, that enriched local living. Their contributions would resonate for years to come. And that’s just one family.

Paul Camp would say every time the Methodist Church in Monett opened its doors, his mother was there.

She taught Sunday school, and joined an evening circle group, since teaching kept her busy during the day.

Grace also joined the Etta Gardner Garden Club and played bridge avidly.

The Scotts commented that one of Grace’s greatest achievements was “managing” Earl Camp. By all accounts, E.E. Camp was a very idiosyncratic character. He was an indomitable leader, one who might terrify you, and yet someone who had a great heart for children and teachers. He hand-picked Ralph Scott as his successor as leader of the Monett school district, a choice that proved invaluable to the Monett community.

Stories abound about Earl Camp. Grace didn’t let him put on a lot of airs, calling him “Camp” rather than Earl. She would tell stories about him, like the time he was addressing Christmas cards, finished the box of cards then proceeded to address additional envelopes of the family’s stockpile of congratulations, condolences and get well cards, which went out without explanation to their friends. Known to be forgetful, Earl Camp one time practically walked off a dock on Table Rock Lake with his mind elsewhere. A boating enthusiast, he one time failed to fully secure the motor on his boat, only to watch it sink in Table Rock Lake. He drove like he never fully adapted to an automatic transmission, winding up the engine only to let it subside then repeated the process, doing this on one trip all the way to Jefferson City.

“He was the kind of guy who loved to play golf,” Jeanne Ann Camp recalled. “One day he decided it was taking too much of his time, so he stopped, completely. That showed the kind of determination he had.”

Grace didn’t let Earl Camp take himself too seriously, and saw comic moments in his situations. She also ran a warm, supportive household. Without a companion for their adopted son, the Camps would invite Paul’s school friends and contemporary neighbors, like Gerry Reynaud and Janie Bass (Bates) to come to sleep-overs or go on vacations with them, or on one of their many weekends at their cabin near Shell Knob.

For his part, the Camps’ son Paul developed a rather off-beat sense of humor, and took many opportunities to poke a little fun at his mother’s properness. She seems to have taken that, too, in stride.

“She was a wonderful person,” Janie Bates said, whose mother, Ozelle Bass, was one of Grace’s closest friends. “I never heard her raise her voice. She was very concerned about everyone. She was like a second mother to me. Our families spent a lot of time together.”

After Earl died in 1971 at age 69, Grace continued to work. Teachers did not pay into Social Security, and many single women retired into poverty, though today’s teacher’s pension programs are very good. Grace held jobs as a teacher’s aide, a companion for Mrs. V.B. Hall, and even at The Monett Times, probably as a proofreader.

“There was no money when she died,” Jeanne Ann Camp said. “They had spent it on trips and things. Earl never earned that much. He always said, ‘Money that comes to the school should go to the teachers first.’ She took care of people almost to where she needed to be taken care of.”

Grace Camp’s impact may have reached beyond what anyone can trace. She was active in the Council for Exceptional Children, a national organization, in Missouri, and the Retired Teachers Association, and was wellknown around the state in education circles. Her example may have been instrumental in getting the 1973 law passed that expanded educational opportunities in Missouri.

“She was always a special lady,” said Mary K. Scott. “When she wasn’t teaching, she was volunteering with a handicapped group. She was helpful in getting us acquainted in the community, told us what to do and where to go shopping for a house. She was an outstanding citizen.”

Janie Bates still puts flowers on Grace’s grave at the Monett IOOF Cemetery. Grace’s example still shines, making the community she served a better place for being there. n