By Megan Murphy
Editor-in-Chief
Crowder College was founded in 1963, but the land that the campus sits on today has additional historical significance. Before the college was established, the Neosho campus and surrounding area served as Camp Crowder, an Army post that was established in World War II. At its peak, the camp had a population of around 45,000 people.
The camp served as a Signal Corps training center and also as a prisoner of war camp that held over 2,000 German soldiers. Parts of the original Camp Crowder remain today as the National Guard base adjacent to the college.
However, Camp Crowder lives on in the Beetle Bailey comic strip by Mort Walker, fictionalized as “Camp Swampy”, an actual nickname for the area due to its propensity for flooding.
Local author Kay Hively wrote a book about the history of Camp Crowder, which features cover art drawn by Walker.
In 1943, Mort Walker was drafted into the Army and did his basic training at Camp Crowder. He did not spend a lot of time at Camp Crowder before his military career sent him elsewhere. After the war, however, he studied at the University of Missouri and in 1950 Beetle Bailey was first published, according to Walker’s personal website.
Beetle Bailey (the character) was originally a college student, but after he enlisted in the Army the comic became more popular. The comic is still published in newspapers across the world as one of the longest running comic strips. However, Walker died in January of this year.
Crowder College plans to hold an event to honor Walker later this year; the event will be held on Thursday, Apr. 12 starting at noon in the Wright Conference Center.
“We will find an appropriate Crowder College way to pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Mort Walker in the coming days,” Jennifer Methvin, Crowder president, said in an email. “I invite us to keep Mr. Walker’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers.”
Camp Crowder was at its peak during WWII, but after the war, the camp remained as an active site until 1958. A few years later, Crowder College was formed and still uses buildings that were built for the camp today.
In fact, both Newton and McDonald Hall were built for use by the camp as administrative buildings in the 1950s, and the National Guard still uses barracks that are from the original camp as well.
Although the base that inspired “Camp Swampy” no longer exists, Crowder College has preserved some of the historical aspects of the area. The Longwell Museum in the Elsie Plaster Community Center on the main Neosho campus has a permanent exhibit dedicated to Camp Crowder that is available. Hours and more information about this exhibit can be found at www.longwellmuseum.com/camp-crowder.html.
Leave a Reply