Sailors at Camp Meyer (1911)

Item Information

Title:
Sailors at Camp Meyer (1911)
Description:
This lantern slide shows sailors relaxing on the front porch of the YMCA at Camp Meyer, located in Deer Point, Guantanamo Bay. Most of the soldiers are reading newspapers.
Date:
1911
Format:
Photographs
Location:
Springfield College Archives and Special Collections
Collection (local):
College Archives Digital Collections
Series:
Lantern Slide Collection
Subjects:
Young Men's Christian Association of North America
Lantern slides
Buildings
Porches
Navies
Chairs
Sitting
Men
Extent:
3x4 in
Link to Item:
https://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15370coll2/id/3652
Terms of Use:
Text and images are owned, held, or licensed by Springfield College and are available for personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that ownership is properly cited. A credit line is required and should read: Courtesy of Springfield College, Babson Library, Archives and Special Collections. Any commercial use without written permission from Springfield College is strictly prohibited. Other individuals or entities other than, and in addition to, Springfield College may also own copyrights and other propriety rights. The publishing, exhibiting, or broadcasting party assumes all responsibility for clearing reproduction rights and for any infringement of United States copyright law.
Contact host institution for more information.
Publisher:
Springfield College
Notes:
The camp, established on March 13, 1911, once hosted around two thousand marines. However, the surprisingly short-lived installation closed on June 18, 1911. Deer Point is a plateau that stands thirty feet high, stretches one hundred and fifty yards wide, and extends for one thousand yards into Guantanamo Bay. Tropical spring showers frequently caused flooding until the ditches were complete. From the bay, soldiers could see a fine dust of powdered coral hanging high above the camp like a cloud. Many of the men were bitten by mosquitoes, scorpions, and tarantulas, and flies in the canteen were a constant problem. Cases of heat prostration and ear infections were numerous. The United States military used the camp during the 1912 civil disturbance in Cuba and as a staging area in 1915 for the Haiti and Dominican Republic interventions. Guantanamo Bay houses the oldest overseas United States Naval base, and is the only base located in a country with which the U.S. does not maintain diplomatic relations. In February 1903, the United States leased forty-five square miles at Guantanamo Bay for use as a coaling station and then as a refueling station. The treaty was finalized, ratified by both governments, and signed in December 1903. For a more detailed description of the base, see “Notes on Camp Meyer, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba” in the United States Naval Medical Bulletin (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1912).
Text on border reads, "Usual scene. Piazza of YMCA Bldg Guantanamo Bay."
Identifier:
LS-02-69