Founded in 1919 by Elias A. Cohen, Tranquillity Camp was built on Tranquillity Farm in the foothills of the Catskills. Mr. Cohen brought young Jewish boys and girls to his farm in Earlton, New York to escape the heat of the city.His niece, Pearl C. Miller, lovingly took on the role of camp director when Mr. Cohen passed away. Pearl will forever be the First Lady of Tranquillity and is remembered by all those who were lucky enough to encounter her warm smile and welcoming arms.

Over the years, Tranquillity has grown from its simple roots as a single farmhouse located on several acres of land, to an expansive campus with fully-modernized houses, a beautiful dining room, two swimming pools, a large multi-purpose Sports Center, a modern theater and an air-conditioned infirmary. Many of the buildings on our grounds are funded by our passionate and active alumni organization, the Friends of Tranquillity Camp. The Cohen family has remained an integral part of Tranquillity, staying true to Elias A’s mission of providing a fun, safe and exciting summer camp experience at an affordable cost.

The excerpt below comes from a camp newsletter published in the 1970’s, penned by Pearl C. Miller, the Matriarch of Tranquillity.

“The setting of this story was simple. By today’s standards it was nothing but a small plain 6 room country house on a rugged farm in the backwoods of a hamlet in the foothills of the Catskills.

The idea was original, to select a small group of bright, worthy children from the inner city where they lived in crowded tenements with a lack of fresh air and play space and bring them to the country where there were trees and flowers and green grass and clean, fresh air and plenty of room to roam and play. There they would have an opportunity to spend a few weeks of fun and relaxation together away from the pressures of home and city life.

The characters in this story were the most important part. They were the guests of Elias A. Cohen, these energetic young people. First 10 boys for 2 weeks, then girls, then boys and girls came together. So it has been summer after happy summer, year after wonderful year.

Elias A. Cohen loved people. He had faith in youth. He wanted to give every child an opportunity to express himself, to develop his latent talents, to learn to live with one another harmoniously, His ideals and goals became our ideals and goals and they still are.”