Freedom of the Out of Doors…, Paul Parker, circa 1943, v1991.110.25; Brooklyn Bureau of Community Services Collection; Brooklyn Historic Society.

This publicity photo was taken by Paul Parker for the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Services in the early 1940s. It depicts a group of visually-impaired women grilling hot dogs at the Shelter Island Camp of the Brooklyn Bureau of Social Service and Children’s Aid Society. The verso of the photograph reads: “Grilling a ‘hot dog’ over a camp fire under a counselor’s watchful eye at Shelter Island Camp of the Brooklyn Bureau of Social Service and Children’s Aid Society gives a blind girl confidence and a sense of achievement.”

The camp was located at 28 Congdon Road on Shelter Island and was the summer retreat for thousands of people including the children of the Brooklyn Bureau of Social Service. The summer camp catered to people with disabilities and at risk youth. The location of the camp is now a private residence.