 |
 Harry Poole Camden, Jr.
Harry P. Camden, Jr. was born March 18, 1900 in Parkersburg, West Virginia to Harry Poole Camden and Julliette Blackford Camden. He was the first child of three. He had a sister Mary Blackford and a brother Graham Blackford. Harry married Helen Rae Trefts on June 24 1930. They had one son, John Trefts Camden and two daughters, Juliette Blackford Camden and Susan Trefts Camden.
He was a member of the Rye Volunteer Auxiliary Police and a resident of Rye for approximately six years. Harry graduated from Yale University and was a professional sculptor He and his family resided at 281 Rye Beach Ave Rye, NY and were members of the Presbyterian Church. Harry served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
 Harry Poole Camden, Jr. served in both WWI and WWII. He was a graduate of Culver Military Academy and while there was a member of the Black Horse Troop, the troop with which he rode in President Wilsons second inauguration in Washington, D. C. After graduation in June, 1917, as Cadet Captain of the troop, he was commissioned 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Army the 2nd youngest 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Army in 1917 . After World War I, Lt. Camden taught military sciences at Marietta College, Ohio, until his honorable discharge in Dec. , 1918.
Harry Camden received his commission in the Army Air Corps in the summer of 1942. He was a Captain and executive officer of a squadron in the 483rd Bombardment Squadron, 339th Bomb. Group D.
He died suddenly at the Army Air Field base in Walterboro, S. C. on July 29, 1943, following a heart attack. Captain Harry P. Camden, Jr was buried in his family plot in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
Harry Poole Camden, Jr
by Marcia Camden
Harry Poole Camden, Jr. Born March 10, 1900, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Harry Poole Camden Jr. was the first child of three of Harry Poole Camden and Julliette Blackford Camden. He had a sister, Mary Blackford, and a brother Graham Blackford. His early school years were spent in Parkersburg public schools.
He enrolled in Culver Military Academy to complete his high school education. There he was a member of the Black Horse Troop, the troop with which he rode in President Wilsons second inauguration in Washington, D. C. After graduation in June, 1917, as Cadet Captain of the troop, he was commissioned 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Army the 2nd youngest 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Army in 1917 .
After World War I, Lt. Camden taught military sciences at Marietta College, Ohio, until his honorable discharge in Dec. , 1918. After fulfilling his military obligations, he studied engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology for one year before entering the School of Fine Arts at Yale University. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1924. While studying at Yale, Harry was awarded the Fannie B. Parker prize for excellence in sculpture in 1922. Also, he was awarded the John Ferguson Weir Scholarship. In 1923, he received a special honorable mention for general excellence in sculpture in the Yale School of Fine Arts.
 After graduation in 1924, Harry Poole Camden Jr. won the Prix de Rome scholarship in sculpture for his Icarus Memorial. The prize included an award of $1,000 a year and three years study at the American Academy in Rome. In 1927, he was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome. On his return from Rome, he became Professor of Sculpture at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, a post he held for two years. While in Oregon, he executed a sculpture for the Leaburg Power Plant on the McKenzie River in 1928, which consisted of a large bronze plaque depicting energy formation installed across the front of the building.
 In 1929, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, a position he held until 1936. While at Cornell, he executed many bronze plaques for the University buildings: Stone Hall, Farrow Hall, Sackett Memorial, and Sigma Xi. Additional plaques were completed for Cascadilla Glen Trail, Sackett Cascade Memorial, Goldwin Smith Walk, Treman Water Fountain, and others.
Harry married Helen Rae TREFTS, daughter of John C. TREFTS and Hazel Peters REA, on June 24 1930. Helen was born on Feb 7 1908. She died in Feb 1975 in Chatham, N. Y. They had one son, John Trefts, and two daughters, Juliette Blackford and Susan Trefts.
In 1938, he won a competition to execute an aluminum sculpture relief four feet by five feet for Clarks Summit Post Office, Clarks Summit, Pa. In the June 9, 1938 issue of the New York World Telegram, it was reported that Harry P. Camden Jr. had won the National Competition for the figure groups to be installed on the Federal Building of the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York. He executed Peace and Unity, which adorned the facade of the building. Each group was 36 feet in height. He also completed the design of four heroic masses cast in translucent phenolic resin representing Internal Protection, Finance and Credit, Arts, Education and Recreation, and Social Welfare. These groupings were placed inside the Federal Building at the Worlds Fair.
In 1939, he executed the sculpture for the Family Courts Building in New York City at the northeast corner of Lexington Ave. an 22nd St. Now Baruch College .
At the time of his death, Harry was a Captain executive officer of a squadron in the 483rd Bombardment Squadron, 339th Bomb. Gp. D at the Army Air Field in Walterboro, S. C. He died at the base on July 29, 1943 and was buried in IOOF Cemetery, Parkersburg, West Virginia. Source:Marcia Camden
|
|
|
Most interesting! 
