Scouting in Tennessee

Scouting in Tennessee has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

Early history (1910-1950)

The boy scouts were chartered in Tennessee in 1910. Until 1974, some Tennessee councils of the Boy Scouts of America were racially segregated. (The Old Hickory council did not integrate until 1974.) Colored Troops, as they were officially known, were given little support from some Districts and Councils. Some Scouting executives and leaders believed that Colored Scouts and Leaders would be less able to live up to the ideals of the Boy Scouts.

In 1917 the first girl scout troops in Nashville and elsewhere in Tennessee began meeting. In 1922 Knox County received a charter. In 1926 the Nashville Girl Scout Council was chartered.[1][2]Most Girl Scouts of the USA units were originally segregated by race according to state and local laws and customs. In 1924, Josephine Groves then working at a shelter for African-American mothers and families in need in Nashville heard about Girl Scouting and attended a training course for leaders. She brought scouting back to the girls at the shelter; however, none of this was official since both she and they were African-American. She married, becoming Josephine Groves Holloway, and left her job at the shelter but continue to encourage scouting. In 1933 she requested recognition for her troop from the local council; it was refused until 1942 when permission for the first official African-American Girl Scout troop in Tennessee was given. She also help fully desegregate the Cumberland Valley council in 1962.[1][3]

Boy Scouting in Tennessee today

There are seven BSA local councils in Tennessee.

Cherokee Area Council

The Cherokee Area Council serves Scouts in Tennessee and Georgia, with the council office located in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[4] Active from 1914, programs offered include: Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venture, Exploring and Learning for Life. The council's Skymont Scout Reservation provides year-round and summer camping opportunities on the Cumberland Plateau.[5]

The council is divided into five districts:[4]

Camps

Skymont Scout Reservation, which consists of over 2,400 acres (9.7 km2) on the edge of the Cumberland Mountains Plateau, hosts Boy Scout summer camps, Cub Scout family camps and high adventure activities throughout the summer and other camps during the year.[5] It is also home of the Talidandaganu' Lodge of the Order of the Arrow.[6]

Chickasaw Council

Chickasaw Council serves Scouts in Shelby County, as well as a single county in eastern Arkansas and fifteen counties in northwest Mississippi.

Great Smoky Mountain Council

The Great Smoky Mountain Council serves 21 East Tennessee counties, and is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Middle Tennessee Council

Middle Tennessee Council Web Site

  • Black Fox District
  • Buffalo River District
  • Cherokee District
  • Cogioba District
  • Dan Beard District
  • Davy Crockett District
  • Duck River District
  • Elk River District
    Camp Arrowhead, Elk River District
    [7]
  • Exploring District
  • Hermitage District
  • Highland Rim District
  • James E. West District
  • Nashboro District
  • Natchez Trace District
  • Trail of Tears District
  • Upper Cumberland District
  • Warioto District
  • Walton Trail District

The Middle Tennessee Council operates four camping facilities:[8]

Sequoyah Council

Council office in Johnson City

The Sequoyah Council serves Scouts in Northeast Tennessee and Virginia.

Organization

  • Breaks District
  • Buffalo Mountain District
  • Nolachuckey District
  • Overmountain District
  • Wilderness Road District

Camp

Sequoyah Council has its own summer camp called "Camp Davy Crockett", just outside Rogersville, TN. It was founded in 1972.

Lincoln Heritage Council

Lincoln Heritage Council serves Scouts in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and the community of South Fulton, Tennessee (located in Obion County).

West Tennessee Area Council

  • Big Hatchie District
  • Central District
  • Davy Crockett District
  • Bedford Forrest District
  • Shiloh District

Camp Mack Morris in Camden, Tennessee serves as the primary camping facility for the WTAC and has been in continuous operation since 1946. It is also the home of Ittawamba Lodge 235 of the Order of the Arrow.[9]

Girl Scouting in Tennessee today

Girl Scouts of the USA council map with service centers and camps for the state of Tennessee

There are four Girl Scout councils serving Tennessee.

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

See Scouting in Georgia for complete information. This council serves girls in Polk County, Tennessee

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

Girl Scouts Heart of the South

Girl Scouts Heart of the South was established on June 1, 2008 by the merger of Girl Scouts of Northeast Mississippi, Girl Scout Council of Northwest Mississippi, Girl Scout Council of The Mid-South, and Reelfoot Girl Scout Council. It serves 6,000 girls and has 2,000 adult volunteers in west Tennessee, north Mississippi and Crittenden County, Arkansas.[10]

Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee

Camps:

Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee

Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee serves over 14,000 girls and has 7,000 adult volunteers in 39 Tennessee counties. Nashville had its first troop in 1917 and Nashville Girl Scout Council was chartered in 1926. In 1958 a reorganization led to Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council covering 20 counties in Tennessee and southern Kentucky. In 2006 a new realignment led to the current larger council.[14]

Headquarters: Nashville, Tennessee

Camps:

  • Camp Holloway is 76 acres (31 ha) in Millersville, Tennessee, and established in 1951 as a camp for "Negro girl scouts"; it now serves all girls. It is named for Josephine Holloway who founded the first official African-American Girl Scout troop in Nashville in 1942 (some 18 years after establishing one unofficially and 9 years after first seeking official permission).[15][16]
  • Camp Nee Kah Nah is 354 acres (143 ha) in Gainesboro, Tennessee. Its name derives from "friendship crossing" in Cherokee.
  • Camp Piedmont is 29 acres (12 ha) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
  • Camp Sycamore Hills is 742 acres (300 ha) in Ashland City, Tennessee. It was established in 1959.

Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians (GSCSA)

Formed by the merger of Girl Scouts of the Appalachian Council, Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council, and Girl Scouts of Moccasin Bend Council. This council covers 46 counties in southwest Virginia, east Tennessee, and north Georgia and has service centers in Johnson City, Tennessee, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.[17]

Camps:[18]

  • Camp Wildwood in Johnson City, Tennessee is 12 acres (4.9 ha) owned by the Harris Foundation but for the use of the Girl Scouts.
  • Camp Tanasi covers 461 acres (187 ha) on Norris Lake near Andersonville
  • Camp Adahi covers 900 acres (360 ha) on Lookout Mountain in Georgia and includes 10 acres (4.0 ha) lake. It was acquired in 1965.

Former camps:

Scouting museums in Tennessee

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee History". Archived from the original on 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  2. ↑ "Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council history".
  3. ↑ Elisabeth Israels Perry (2002) [1998]. "Josephine Groves Holloway". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville, Tenn. (Online ed.). Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  4. 1 2 "Cherokee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America". Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  5. 1 2 "Skymont Scout Reservation". Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  6. ↑ "Talidandaganu' Lodge #293". Archived from the original on 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  7. ↑ https://sites.google.com/a/elkriverdistrict.org/erd/
  8. ↑ "Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts | Camp Facilities". Middle Tennessee Council Boy Scouts. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Ittawamba Lodge 235". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  10. ↑ "About". Girl Scouts Heart of the South. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  11. ↑ "Kamp Kiwani". Girl Scouts Heart of the South. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Camp Tik-A-Witha". Girl Scouts Heart of the South. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Camp Fisherville". Girl Scouts Heart of the South. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "About". Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  15. ↑ "Josephine Groves Holloway". Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  16. ↑ Perry, Elisabeth Israels. "Josephine Groves Holloway". Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. University of Tennessee Press. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  17. ↑ ""About our Council"". Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  18. ↑ ""Our Camps"". Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "Camp Sky-Wa-Mo to be sold". Bristol Herald-Courier. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
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