At the camp were three colored chaplains and one colored surgeon,
serving with the Regular Army, and their presence was of great value
in the way of accustoming the people at large to beholding colored men
as commissioned officers. To none were more attention shown than to
these colored men, and there was apparently no desire to infringe upon
their rights. Occasionally a very petty social movement might be made
by an insignificant, with a view of humiliating a Negro chaplain, but
such efforts usually died without harm to those aimed at and
apparently without special comfort to those who engineered them.
The following paragraphs, written while in camp at the time indicated
in them, may serve a good purpose by their insertion here, showing as
they do the reflections of the writer as well as in outlining the more
important facts associated with that remarkable encampment:
* * * * *
CAMP WIKOFF AND ITS LESSONS.
Now that the days of this camp are drawing to a close it is profitable
to recall its unique history and gather up some of the lessons it has
taught us. Despite all the sensationalism, investigations, testings,
experimentation, and general condemnation, the camp at Montauk
accomplished what was intended, and was itself a humane and patriotic
establishment.
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