RESCUE ROCKWOOD

In this volume, Robertson offers a deep dive into the history of Rockwood, a property 15 miles outside Washington, D.C., donated to the Girl Scouts in the late 1930s. Rockwood was used as a camp for girls from around the country until its eventual closure and sale to a housing developer. The book is concerned primarily with the individuals affiliated with the camp over the years, and it opens with the dramatic story of a young woman trapped when the roof of a Washington movie theater collapsed. That woman’s compelling story as well as her commitment to the Girl Scouts as an organization inspired Rockwood’s owner to donate the property after her death. The book follows the camp’s operations over the subsequent decades: its managers, guests, and administrators as well as the constant challenges of keeping the facility in working order. Because of the Girl Scouts’ connections to Washington’s elite, first ladies and other familiar names make appearances throughout the volume. Robertson explains how, for the Girl Scouts leadership, those challenges and the related expenses eventually led to the decision to close and sell the camp in 1978. There was a swift and widespread backlash from those outside the organization’s staff, with protests and lawsuits that lasted for several years until a settlement was reached. But the camp remained closed. Several appendices provide additional details and situate the conflict within nonprofit organizational systems.

The book is minutely researched, with copious endnotes after every chapter. Using a combination of news coverage, archival access, and participants’ memories, Robertson is able to build a detailed portrait of Rockwood through the years. Numerous historical photographs do a lot to bring the text to life as well. But the details can sometimes feel excessive—for example, a lengthy dive into the genealogy of Rockwood’s donor and her husband meanders a bit from the main account, and the chapters chronicling the mid-20th-century camp activities and staffing changes can feel repetitive. The explorations of the legal issues surrounding the bequest, while equally complex, are more clearly connected to the central story. Robertson is a strong writer (one camp leader “had to break up a fight between two fully uniformed Brownies who both wanted to carry the flag for a flag ceremony, and were now throwing punches with their little white-gloved fists”). With her deep knowledge of and enthusiasm for the volume’s subject, she makes the decades-long story easy to follow. Descriptions of failed sewage systems and poorly built housing make it clear why the Girl Scouts ultimately found the camp an inefficient use of resources. Although the book’s title shows where Robertson’s sympathies lie, the conflict over the camp is presented dispassionately, with no clear villains or base motives. With its narrow focus on a camp that has been closed for decades and has few connections to broader historical or cultural trends, the volume may find its audience limited. But readers with an interest in the history of the Girl Scouts will find it an informative and engrossing addition to the literature.