History of African-American Boy Scouts in Durham, NC

[RememberSchiff 3683]

R. Kelley Bryant served as Scoutmaster for Troop 187 from 1951 to 1988.

Later in 2003, he wrote about his efforts to integrate the Boy Scouts in North Carolina.

"Early in my scouting career I noticed that all white scout leaders were organized into “districts” (Durham District) and all black leaders were organized as “divisions” (Durham Divisional Committee) with no council-level recognition or representation. We were permitted to do scouting with the permission of the copyright owners endorsed by the local whites. We were assigned a black field executive whose position allowed him to go to the council office for instructions, but he could not attend council meetings or executive board meetings as did the white field executives. Our [Black] scouts could not go to Camp Durant, a council owned Boy Scout camp in Wake County.

..."

More at source:

https://durhamcountylibrary.org/ncc/digital-exhibits/r-kelly-bryant-papers-and-obituary-collection/the-history-of-african-american-boy-scouts-in-durham/

[Eagle94-A1 2687]

Sadly one NC council I know of had segregated districts up to the late 1970s, early 1980s. 1 DE served the two segregated districts with the same territory. Each district had its own activities and committee, and they did not do joint activities. Sad time for BSA.

[KublaiKen 192]

And negative repercussions from that kind of treatment don't end quickly or easily.

Thank you for posting this, @RememberSchiff. It is good to remember our history.