Thousands of children attended or worked at Ontario summer camps in the twentieth century. Did parents simply want a break, or were broader developments at play? The Nurture of Nature explores the history of an institution that shaped the lives of many and brings to light overlooked connections between the history of childhood, the natural environment, class cultures, and modern recreation and leisure. Two competing cultural tendencies – antimodern nostalgia and modern enthusiasms about the landscape, child rearing, and identity – shaped the summer camp. Sharon Wall examines how this tension played out in the camp’s interaction with the natural landscape, its class and gendered dimensions, its engagement with emerging ideologies of childhood, and in the politics of race and identity inherent in its "Indian" programming. By tracing the development of summer camps in Ontario, Wall brings new insights to a broader phenomenon: the divided consciousness that has informed modern assumptions about nature, technology, and identity.