About the Collection

The Fred M. Greguras Camp Meade Collection was acquired by the archives in 2018 from a long-time collector and expert on U.S. Spanish-American War Camps, Mr. Fred M. Greguras.  As of Fall 2022, processing for this collection has been completed and a detailed finding aid is available (see below).  The collection is open for research purposes. 

The majority of materials in the collection focus on "Camp George G. Meade," also known simply as "Camp Meade."   It contains manuals, magazines and newspapers, numerous photographs, photographic postcards, postcards, a silver commemorative "Camp Meade" chalice, yearbooks from Fort Indiantown Gap, pins and medals, and much more! 

About Camp Meade

According to Mr. Greguras, Camp Meade "...was the second camp of the Second Corps. The Second Corps was relocated from Camp Alger [in Dunn Loring, Virginia] to Camp Meade in an attempt to outrun the typhoid fever epidemic at Camp Alger. Camp Meade was established about August 15, 1898, and abandoned on November 17, 1898. Troops at the camp were mustered out or sent south for the winter. Part of the camp was reopened in April 1899 for the muster out of a number of volunteer units (2nd, 4th, 5th, and 9th U.S. Volunteer Infantry) up through June 1899. In addition, several of the new volunteer regiments authorized by Congress in 1899 for the Philippine insurrection assembled there from July to November 1899. The Mt. Gretna rifle range was used by these regiments."

The camp was located south of Harrisburg and just west of Middletown. The site is bisected by the east-west Pennsylvania turnpike (76) east-west State Highway 283 and the north-south extension from State Highway 283 to the Harrisburg International Airport. The site is north of the airport in between Middletown and Highspire. The land rises to the north from the Susquehanna River. Much of the area in the north-central part of the camp is still semi-rural. Residential areas cover many of the sites south of State Highway 283. Rosedale Road cuts across the site diagonally northwest-southwest. The Penn State Harrisburg campus is at the south side of the site and a number of the 1898 camp sites are located on the campus. There is a historical marker on the west side of Pennsylvania Highway 441 (Union Street) at the Middletown Area High School (1155 North Union Street).

Exhibition 

Selected examples from this collection are currently on exhibit!  In honor of the 125th anniversary of the Spanish-American War of 1898, the "Commemorating Camp Meade" exhibition runs from October 3, 2022, through February 1, 2023, in the archives' main display case, which is located on the 1st floor of the Madlyn L. Hanes Library.  A digital version of the exhibition can also be viewed via Flickr here.

Finding Aid for the Collection

Processing, also known as arrangement and description, for this collection was completed in May 2022.  A detailed finding aid for the collection is now available.