Wellness Week at Crowder includes an array of activities to improve mental, physical, and emotional well-being. As an act to improve physical and intellectual health, Keith Zoromski, former Crowder history teacher and the Vice President of Academic Affairs, led a history walk of Crowder. The walk includes a map and a tour of the campus as it was back when it was Camp Crowder.
“Back in the day, Crowder was a massive part of the area, covering ⅙ of Newton County and stretching all the way to McDonald County,” states Zoromski. The entirety of Camp Crowder was around 42,000 acres. There were up to 50,000 soldiers on campus at any given time during the years of WWII.
“Camp Crowder was a living breathing environment that had music, sports, cultural demonstrations…they had it all,” Zoromski said. The camp had its own newspaper and radio station, five movie theaters, three beauty parlors, 14 chapels, and one of the largest laundries in the country.
After the camp closed, the land used for the barracks and training was returned to the farmers or sold. The residents of the community saw the potential for the camp and in 1963 voted for a community college to be put on the grounds of previous Camp Crowder.
In 1964, Crowder College opened with just 378 students. Today, admission is over 5,000 students.
Crowder has been a part of the community even before it was a college. The history walk lends credit to its rich history with historical knowledge and engaging activity.
For more information, check out the Missouri Archives Camp Crowder Collection.
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