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Mr. J. Maurice Hopkins and Mr. William Roane each joined the Ebenezer program as Cub Scouts in the mid-1950s. Together, they soared through the ranks. By the time the two reached high school, they were covered in merit badges — more than 50 between them — all earned under Mr. Ross, and far more than the 21 badges needed to qualify for a shot at the pinnacle of scouting.
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Yet the era, the segregated South of the 1950s and ’60s, held them back. As Eagle Scout candidates, the young men were required to clear one last critical hurdle — earning their life-saving swimming merit