The Patapsco Camp or the CPS Camp No. 3 was a

Civilian Public Service The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative service, alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, wil ...

camp established during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for conscientious objectors. Located at the

Patapsco Valley State Park Patapsco Valley State Park is a Maryland state park extending along of the Patapsco River south and west of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The park encompasses multiple developed areas on over acres of land, making it Maryland's largest st ...

near

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, the site was the first Civilian Public Service camp for conscientious objectors in the United States.

History

The camp was opened on May 15, 1941, and closed in September 1942. The camp was a

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

base camp located on a former

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) camp near

Elkridge, Maryland Elkridge is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Elkridge is a rapidly growing area; between the 2010 and the 2020 census, the population had grown from ...

, in the Patapsco Valley State Park, then known as the Patapsco State Forest. The CCC camp was known as Camp Tydings, as

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

project operating between 1933 and 1942. The camp allowed drafted conscientious objectors, predominantly Christian pacifists, to serve the country without fighting in the war. The men serving in the camp faced public hostility. One conscientious objector received a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

calling conscientious objectors "Hitler's little helpers". The camp was 2 to 3 acres in size and included eight buildings, including barracks. The only remaining structure in the Patapsco State Park is a fireplace located underneath a picnic shelter. Some paths from the camp remain, but lead to nowhere. The remains can be found at Shelter #1, located at the Avalon area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. The first twenty-six conscientious objectors at the camp arrived alongside fifty-four reporters and photographers. Referred to as "the gold fish bowl", the press focused on the "peculiarity" of conscientious objectors' beliefs. Operated by the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

, about one-third of conscientious objectors were

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. One-third were

Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...

s. The remaining third mostly belonged to other Protestant denominations such as

Christadelphians The Christadelphians () are a Restorationism, restorationist and Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Biblical unitarianism, (Biblical Unitarian) Christian denomination. The name means 'brothers and sisters in Christ',"The Christadelphians, or breth ...

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

, Brethren,

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

, or were religiously non-affiliated. The population of objectors were relatively educated, with over half being college educated and many were professionals. Only twenty-five percent were

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, having technical, skilled, or non-skilled jobs. A 70th anniversary celebration of the camp was held on May 15, 2011. The event was attended by members of the historic

peace churches Peace churches are Christian churches, groups or communities advocating Christian pacifism or Biblical nonresistance. The term historic peace churches refers specifically only to three church groups among pacifist churches: * Church of the Breth ...

, staff from the

Center on Conscience & War The Center on Conscience & War (CCW) is a United States non-profit anti-war organization located in Washington, D.C., dedicated to defending and extending the rights of conscientious objectors. The group participates in the G.I. Rights Hotline, a ...

and the

Mennonite Central Committee The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a relief service, and peace agency representing fifteen Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish bodies in North America. The U.S. headquarters are located in Akron, Pennsylvania; the Canadian headquarte ...

, Civilian Public Service alumni and their family members, and historians.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Conscientious Objectors, Part I; Work Fit to Make Pacifists Reconsider Corporal Punishment
1941 establishments in Maryland 1942 disestablishments in Maryland Civilian Public Service Elkridge, Maryland History of Jehovah's Witnesses Men in Maryland Mennonitism in Maryland Pacifism in the United States Patapsco Valley Protestantism in Maryland National Park Service Quakerism in Maryland

History

See also

References

External links