Camp Onaway was established in 1911 by Mrs. Henry (Mabel Woodbridge) Hollister, whose family members remain connected to the camp to this day. Mabel Hollister had two devoted assistants, Frances M. Frost and Margaret F. Stiles, who arrived in 1912 and 1918 respectively. In 1937 Mrs. Hollister appointed Frances Frost to succeed her as Director, with Margaret Stiles as Assistant Director. Miss Frost resigned in 1943, and Miss Stiles was Director from 1944 to 1966. These women made sure that the camp continued to provide the summer experience created by Mrs. Hollister.

In 1960 Camp Onaway was incorporated as a non-profit educational trust, with dedicated Onaway parents and alumnae serving on the first Board of Trustees. The Board appointed as Directors: Eleanor Buell Stanwood (1967-1969), William H. C. St. John (1970-1972), Jane Johnson Kent (1973-1977), Lisa Stokes Taylor (1978-1983), Carol Morgan Southall (1984-2003), and Anne Peterson Conolly, 2004 to the present.

Carol Southall served as Director for 20 years, continuing in the footsteps of the long serving directors Mabel Hollister and Margaret Stiles. (Carol had been a camper under Miss Stiles and would have seen Mrs. Hollister sitting on her special boulder on Campfire Rock.) Her accomplishments included (among many others) leadership development with Skytops and Aides, and the creation of the O. W. L. E. Program for the Skytops graduates; the establishment of the crew program; the leasing of the Big Island wilderness campsite on Lake Umbagog in Maine, the additions of North Point Cabin, Gateway House, and the new Shell House; more resources for scholarship, staff development and endowment through two successful Capital Fund drives. Susan Hatch, Board President in 2002, felt that Carol would be remembered most for her relationship with campers and counselors and for her profound respect for each girl.

The current Director, Anne Peterson Conolly, will have been Director for eight summers by the time of the Centennial in 2011. She, too, was no stranger to Onaway. She was a camper from 1962-1966, and a counselor in 1969. Her father, Walker Peterson, was one of the early Onaway trustees. She came to Onaway with the experience of being Dean of Students of the Albany Academy for Girls, where she taught English for 17 years and served as Chair of the Humanities Department. She also served as faculty representative to Albany Academy’s Board of Trustees. She is already appreciated for her skilled leadership, and her appreciation of all that her campers and counselors accomplish each summer.