Volume 3, Number 2
SUMMER 2017
West End Living
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CAMP CRANE
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Allentown Fairgrounds transformed into WWI military base 2017 marks 100 years since U.S. entered WWI After more than 150 years, people still line up at the box office for tickets to the next show at the Allentown Fairgrounds. But 100 years ago, a whole different crowd came calling as the United States Army transformed the Fairgrounds into Camp Crane, an army base for training ambulance drivers for service with the French infantry in World War I. “The French government said we really need ambulances and medics,” explains Bonnie Brosious, Marketing Director of The Great Allentown Fair and Lehigh County
1917 USAAC Section 527 Cadets, In Formation, Camp Crane, Allentown PA
Agricultural Society. “The Army eyed the Allentown Fairgrounds as a great location for training the medics and the ambulance drivers.” The French had been fighting the Germans for three long years and needed help getting their wounded from the battlefield IN THIS ISSUE 1 Camp Crane 3 Mike Bruckner 4 Focus on the Arts 9 New to the Neighborhood
to aid stations. According to Jeff Klinger, PhD, of the Ambulance 255 Project, the United States Army Ambulance Service was formed to meet that function primarily in France. In 1917, Allentown’s West End was a sparsely populated section of the city at the time. Recruits went on long and countless marches through rural towns and countryside just minutes from the camp. The U.S. Army leased the fairgrounds from the Lehigh 10 On the Move 12 Picnic Recipes 14 Students of Note 15 Sportsfest Update 16 JFS Food Bank 18 Dr. Christine Oaklander
County Agricultural Society for $37,000, less than half the revenue typically generated by the fair. “And literally the Army took over the Allentown Fairgrounds,” says Brosious. “This was in May 1917, and about a month later, they opened and had their first recruits from Philadelphia already training,” adds Jill Youngken, Assistant Director of the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum. The Great Fair went on hiatus while Camp Crane trained ambulance drivers and personnel. Recruits and staff became known
20 Muhlenberg Q&A 21 Schlossberg Column 22 Ron’s Ramblings 24 Where is it? 24 Important Numbers 24 St. Patricks 5k SUMMER 2017 WEST
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