Mission and history

Founded in 2004, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit summer day camp serving girls aged 8-18 in New York City. The program offers girls the chance to learn how to play musical instruments, write songs, perform, learn about different types of music, and generally "rock out" in a supportive environment that fosters self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity, tolerance, and collaboration.

Rock camp is dedicated to youth empowerment through music. The program is founded on the proposition that music can serve as a powerful tool of self-expression and self-esteem-building for girls and young women, and can help combat racism and stereotypes by building bridges of communication and shared experience among girls from diverse communities.

The inaugural camp session in 2005, which took place at the New York Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan, was attended by 66 girls. In 2006, the program expanded to include two sessions, and a total of 160 girls attended. The 2006 camp season took place at Brooklyn Friends School in Downtown Brooklyn.

Most campers come from the five boroughs of New York City and the metropolitan area, but campers have also attended from New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachussetts, Virginia, and Nova Scotia. Approximately 25% of the campers report annual household incomes under $20,000, and more than half of campers receive partial or full scholarships (full tuition for the 2005 and 2006 sessions was $500). The camp group reflects the racial and ethnic diversity of New York City communities, with more than half of the campers identifying themselves as African-American, Latina, Asian-American or multiethnic/multiracial.

The camp is named after Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton, a blues and rock performer/songwriter who was one of the first women to play the music that came to be known as "rock n' roll." The camp grew out of the Portland, Oregon-based program Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls, which was founded in 2000.

Summer camp program
The summer camp is an intensive one-week day camp program. The organization currently offers two sessions every summer, serving a total of approximately 150 girls. Daily programming consists of instrument instruction (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals, DJ/turntables), band practice, and workshops on a variety of topics, from sound engineering and songwriting to self-defense. Games and crafting activities (including making band t-shirts and buttons) are interspersed throughout the day.

Campers form bands on the first day, and during daily band practice they write music and lyrics collectively, assisted by band coaches. At the end of the week, the camp bands perform their original songs at a large-scale recital concert.

Camp classes are taught by volunteer women musicians, who also serve as informal mentors. Counselors are present throughout the day to lead activities and provide campers with support and assistance.

Campers pay a participation fee in accordance with their household income. In order to ensure that girls from a broad range of economic backgrounds are served, the camp has a policy of providing a minimum of 50% of participants with scholarships. Particular focus is placed on conducting outreach to minority, low-income and/or underserved communities.

Leadership & Staff
Willie Mae got started in August, 2004, when a small band of dedicated women started talking about setting up a rock camp for girls in New York City. Some had volunteered at the camp in Portland. Some had always heard about camp and wanted to go but it was always too far away. Some just thought it was a cool idea. Originally dubbed “The Working Group,” now known as the Founders’ Circle, these women worked together to make camp happen for the first time on the East Coast. They are:

Sources of support
Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls receives funding from a variety of sources, including individual donations, grants from private foundations, and support from local and national businesses. The organization holds fundraisers throughout the year, including an annual Rock n' Roll Auction hosted by Murray Hill. Past events include a tribute to Black women songwriters co-sponsored by the Black Rock Coalition at Spiegeltent in lower Manhattan. The 2007 Rock n’ Roll Auction & Benefit Concert took place in January at the Bowery Ballroom and featured performances by camper bands as well as Kimya Dawson and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, special appearances by drummer Russell Simins and Fred Schneider of the B-52’s, and a special limited edition t-shirt designed by Anna Sui.

In 2006, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls held the inaugural session of Ladies Rock Camp, a special fundraiser "weekend edition" of rock camp for adult women. Fifty women attended the three-day program, which culminated in a showcase concert at the club Sin-e on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan.

Media coverage
There has been considerable media interest in camp; articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Daily News, the New York Post, New York Newsday, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The New York Observer, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Spin.com, and Daily Candy, and the camp has been featured on Fox 5 News, Associated Press, and "Morning Edition" on National Public Radio. For more information see our Press page.

Future plans
The 2008 Rock Camp season will once again include 2 one-week sessions, both held in August at the Urban Assembly School of Music and Art (DUMBO, Brooklyn), in addition to TWO Ladies Rock Camp weekends! Camp organizers also plan to continue running a year-round after-school program at UAMA.

A Little "Rock" History/Why Girls?/A Little More About Camp
The approach of rock camp is inspired by the openness and freedom and fighting spirit of music that is born of people just jumping in and doing it, which includes early rock n' roll, along with all forms of folk music around the world, blues, rap, country, hip hop, and other "popular" music.

Rock n' roll, at its origin, was a tool of rebellion and survival, an expression of vitality, community, and desire. Born of the struggle of slaves and the hardship of poverty in the American South, it was a form of music available to all people, requiring no formal training or access to expensive equipment. We dig that.

Over time, of course, rock n' roll evolved in both scope and scale, giving rise to newer forms of music, and in a few short decades, exploded from something threatening, local, and underground to a big business industry. Funny how that changes things.

Funny, too, how throughout the history of popular music, one thing has remained unchanged: women are more often spectators than players or producers. That we don't dig so much.

Rock camp is dedicated to the proposition that music belongs to everyone. We want girls to feel they can just jump in and play guitar, work the soundboard, direct music videos, and write songs about what matters to them. We want to encourage them to explore the openness and freedom and fighting spirit of homemade music, and make it their own. And we want them to carry that feeling with them in whatever they do.

Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization.
All site content ©2006 Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.
Site design by Sonya Balchandani. Photos ©2005 & 2006 by Kate Milford (unless otherwise indicated).