Page 11 - Sojourner Newsletter-Summer 2025 _V2

Volume 102, Issue 3 11

HISTORIAN’S CORNER

The History of Heroes of ’76 Camps
Edward W. Nolte, National Historian
The first National Sojourners Chapter was chartered on 18 February 1918 in Chicago, Illinois, and the first
Heroes of ’76 Camp, Bon Homme Richard, was chartered in Chicago Chapter in July 1922. Chapters
ultimately expanded to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 28 other countries. Meanwhile Camps
expanded to 48 States (no Camps in 2 NV Chapters or 2 WV Chapters), D.C., and 23 of 28 other countries
(not in Greenland, India (2 Chapters), Jamaica, New Guinea, or Peru) other countries.
In total, Heroes of ’76 has chartered 422 Camps from 1922 to 2025. Of these Camps, 337 were “originally
chartered” in the U.S.A. in Operational Chapters, and 5 were “originally chartered” in the U.S.A. in
At-Large Chapters. The other 80 Camps were chartered in 23 of 28 other countries. Unlike Chapters,
Heroes of ’76 Camps are not numbered and must be counted on a name-by-name basis, vice accounting on a
numerical basis. Therefore to avoid unwittingly omitting or duplicating a Camp, the “originally chartered”
designation is significant, both historically and numerically as well. This designation affects six Chapters
and Camps relative to their current home among At-Large Chapters relative to their “originally chartered”
designation: Chicago (Illinois), Saigon #409 (Vietnam), Wright Brothers #449 (Ohio), Danang #498
(Vietnam). In addition, two Chapters have moved operational locations from one State or District to another
State—Walter Reed #303 (D.C. to Maryland) and Kansas City #63 (Missouri to Kansas).
Current Operational and At-Large Chapters with no Camp and their chartering years include National
Headquarters (1935), Jeremiah Osgood #562 (2019), Zenith #566 (2020), GEN Clifton Bledsoe Cates #570
(2023), Old Abe #573 (2024), William F. Cody #674 (2024), and Shriners #1000 (2024). While National
Headquarters Chapter is an Administrative Chapter and does not need a Camp, the other six Chapters are
opportunities for Heroes of ’76 growth and expansion, and your National Historian is aware that several
Chapters are in the process of forming and chartering a Camp.
In closing, it addition to the 422 individual Heroes of Camps, 26 of these Camps were renamed once, and
four of these Camps were renamed twice for a total of 456 Camp names being utilized over the last 103
years.