Scouting America · Episode 4 of 13 · 21 min
The Color Line and the Altar
The Boy Scouts of America never had a national policy on race: the national office declined to decide, councils followed their towns, and segregated districts, camps and competition followed. The same chartered-organization model produced a membership condition of belief in God. The episode follows Black troops, the Rockefeller-funded Inter-Racial Service and the Latter-day Saints partnership, and corrects the 1974 date.
Who's who
- William D. Boyce+1 more episodeIncorporator who stipulated boys of all races and creeds be included
- James E. West+3 more episodesChief Scout Executive, inclusive in language and deferential to locals in practice
- Stanley A. HarrisHead of the national Inter-Racial Service from 1927
- Hamilton BradleyEarliest known Black Eagle Scout, 1919
- Samuel A. MoffatField commissioner who negotiated terms with Latter-day Saints leaders in 1913
Where it happens
- Elizabeth City, North CarolinaOne of the first Black troops in the South, 1911
- Richmond, Virginia+4 more episodesOfficials threatened a public burning of Scout uniforms
- Winston-Salem, North CarolinaOld Hickory Council, one of the last to integrate
- Louisville, Kentucky+2 more episodesCouncil-sanctioned Black troop in 1916
Timeline
- February 8, 1910BSA incorporated with a stipulation that boys of all races and creeds be included
- July 31, 1911One of the first Black troops in the South forms at Elizabeth City
- May 1913Latter-day Saints approved as the first chartered organization
- December 19, 1919Hamilton Bradley's court of honor as the earliest known Black Eagle Scout
- January 1927Inter-Racial Service begins under Stanley Harris
- 1974Old Hickory Council integrates as a last holdout, not a national date
Still debated
Sources disagree on whether the Declaration of Religious Principle dates from 1911 or 1916. The 1974 integration date rests on two sources and is a last-holdout council date, and the claim that no national segregation policy existed is an argument from absence.