From the Michigan Registered Historical Site marker (#225) erected by the Michigan Historical Commission on Interlochen's Osterlin Mall...

Ottawa Indians once lived in the pine forest between lakes Wahbekaness and Wahbekanetta. In the late 1800s white men came and cut the pines, leaving only a small forest between the lakes. This virgin pine was purchased in 1917 by the state and became part of one of the first state parks. When the lumber era ended, the Wylie Cooperage mill occupied the Indian village site, making barrels until the hardwood ran out. Willis Pennington's summer hotel, opened in 1909, was popular with fishermen until automobiles and better roads drew them elsewhere. Then in 1918, Camp Interlochen, one of Michigan's first girls' recreation camps, was opened, followed in 1922 by Camp Penn Loch for boys. In 1928, by arrangement with Willis Pennington, Joseph E. Maddy and Thaddeus P. Giddings established the National High School Orchestra Camp. It grew rapidly in scope, size, and reputation, becoming the National Music Camp in 1931, and affiliating with the University of Michigan in 1942. Interlochen Arts Academy was chartered in 1960 to provide year-round training in the creative arts.

From The National Music Camp -- The First Fifty Years...

In 1926, Joe Maddy was asked to organize and conduct the First National High School Orchestra for the Music Supervisors' National Conference (now known as the Music Educators National Conference) in Detroit. Its resounding success led to an invitation to duplicate the experience at the Dallas, Texas convention of the National Education Association's Department of Superintendence in 1927. The exuberant young musicians pled for the chance to work and play together longer than the few days the convention appearance afforded. Joe Maddy promised them a music camp! In June, 1928, at Interlochen, Michigan, in the midst of a magnificent stand of virgin pine trees between two lovely lakes, The National High School Orchestra Camp opened its doors. On leased land, with the old Hotel Pennington, several cottages, 29 new camper cabins, a hospital, water and sewer system, the new Interlochen Bowl, and $40,000 debt, this brave experiment was launched. The "world's foremost proving ground for youthful talent" was born.

The original "Sound the Call"

Oh, sound the call to dear old Interlochen!
Land of the stately pine.
Where stalwart hands and loyal ever greet you,
Faithful for Auld Lang Syne.
Old friends you'll meet,
New ones you'll greet,
A welcome you'll ever find
So sound the call to dear old Interlochen!
Shrine of the muse divine.

Kresge Auditorium Dedication
"Dedicated to the Promotion of World Friendship through the Universal Language of the Arts."

From the Interlochen archives at the Bentley library in Ann Arbor---

Although Maddy sought to end European dominance of American classical music, his success inevitably led him into international involvement. Early in 1940, he participated in the selection of a National Youth Administration orchestra to tour Latin America. Shortly thereafter, his old friend, Will Earhart, appointed him to the new State Department advisory committee on Inter-American Music. In his acceptance remarks, Maddy emphasized that music afforded the best means to overcome the language barrier. During the war, he encouraged Latin American music leaders to visit Interlochen and solicited support for their students as Campers. At the end of the conflict, he urged funding for a good will tour of Mexico by a high school orchestra. Like his friend Vandenberg, the war convinced Maddy of the need for international cooperation, and he became a supporter of the United Nations. In 1946, under his direction, the student council at Camp adopted a "Charter for Youth," which set forth principles of world unity. Two years later, he dedicated Kresge Auditorium, the Camp's new performance center, "to the promotion of World Friendship through the Universal Language of the Arts."

When a mid-fifties thaw in the Cold War created opportunities for cultural exchange, Maddy lobbied the federal government for a Camp orchestra tour of Eastern Europe. Government, he argued, should aid groups of young amateurs, the world's future leaders, as it did the professionals. Having failed to secure federal assistance, he devoted the Camp's own resources to attracting foreign educators and students. Eventually, in 1964, he started the International (later World) Youth Symphony, composed of Campers from many nations, and two years later, arranged for the Camp to host the first meeting in America of the International Society of Music Educators.