July Hargadine Thomson Collins (December 9, 1872 - October 16, 1929) was the founder and manager of the Night and Day Camp, a St. Louis city camping for the cure of tuberculosis targeting the poor women population of the city.
Biography
July Hargadine Thomson was born on December 9, 1872, the daughter of William Holmes Thomson (1837–1920), vice-president of the Boatmen's Bank and a leader in the St. Louis Veiled Prophet organization, and Anna Lou Hargadine (1851–1934). In 1895 she married Charles Cummings Collins (1872-1922), an attorney. Her children were Anne Collins Taussig (1896–1951), July Comfort Collins Anderson (1897–1929), Mary Virginia Collins Glogau (1903–1978) and Elizabeth Cummings Collins.
July H. Thomson became interested in the charity work in 1911 and at once began energetically raising all the money necessary to erect and equip a Night and Day Camp for poor girls of St. Louis who were threatened with tuberculosis. Since the opening of the camp she had been in active charge of it, and spent much of her time in the conduct of the business of that institution. This camp was located at 9500 South Broadway, in a large oak grove, overlooking the Mississippi River. It was opened March 19, 1913. The capacity was for twenty-eight girls. It was conducted as a preventorium against tuberculosis for self-sustaining girls and women. More than fifty girls, from department stores and factories, were admitted. Over thirty were discharged as practically cured. Dozens of women, ill, but compelled to earn a living, were there able to receive the best medical and nursing care, and got the much needed proper nourishment and complete rest during their "off-duty hours."
While the camp was primarily established for the prevention of the disease, it accomplished more. With the restful surroundings and good influence the entire viewpoint toward life of the patient frequently changed. Melancholy was lost, ambition was aroused, nerves were quieted, the spirit of unselfishness grew. It was the only one of its kind in the United States, exclusively for women. The patients took absolute rest for three weeks, and then, if able to resume their work, returned to the camp each night, until thoroughly rehabilitated. The treatment was absolutely free of any expense, except car fare to and from the camp. The ground was first broken for the building August 31, 1912. The first patient was admitted March 19, 1913. The total cost of construction was $6,231.80 ($ in dollars). The capacity only twenty-eight. The number of patients admitted in the first years was fifty-two, and the number discharged thirty. The greatest gain in weight in the shortest time (three months), fourteen pounds. All expenses considered, the cost of each patient per month was $24.90 ($ in dollars), and per day, covering six meals, was 83 cents ($ in dollars); cost for night patients was 55 cents ($ in dollars). It cared for working girls who contracted the disease in its incipient stages, and by giving them plenty of good, fresh air, and a healthy diet of eggs and milk, enabled them to throw off the disease. To let people die from tuberculosis was a crime, when for a little money those who developed the early stages could be entirely cured. While the movement for the Night and Day Camp was sponsored by the St. Louis Society for the Relief and Prevention of Tuberculosis, under the immediate direction of Collins, yet the society was never called upon for financial assistance or support.
Collins personally solicited numerous cash contributions, directed charity balls, and in conjunction with The St. Louis Times raised many hundreds of dollars in a dime-and-quarter campaign in the St. Louis wholesale, retail and business establishments. The proceeds from these and other sources went towards the construction of the camp, its equipment and maintenance. Helen Gould also sent a very liberal donation, which was set aside as a nest-egg toward an endowment fund.