Scouting in Tennessee

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.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.gsmidtn.org/page.cfm?pid=96|title=Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee History|access-date=2008-12-21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125080359/http://gsmidtn.org/page.cfm?pid=96|archive-date=2009-01-25}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tanasi.org/content/view/6/20/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029222224/http://www.tanasi.org/content/view/6/20/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-10-29 |title=Girl Scouts of Tanasi Council history}} 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.{{cite book | others = Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville, Tenn. | author=Elisabeth Israels Perry| title = Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture | orig-year = 1998 | url = http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net | access-date = 2006-09-08 | edition = Online | year = 2002 | chapter = Josephine Groves Holloway | chapter-url = http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=641 }}

There are seven Boy Scouts of America (BSA) local councils in Tennessee.

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|name=Cherokee Area Council (#556)

|image=

|type=council

|owner=Boy Scouts of America

|headquarters=Chattanooga, Tennessee

|location=

|country=United States

|coords=

|f-date=1910

|defunct=

|founders=

|founder=

|members=

|chiefscouttitle=President

|chiefscout=

|chiefscouttitle2=Council Commissioner

|chiefscout2=

|chiefscouttitle3=Scout Executive

|chiefscout3=Scott Fosse{{cite web |title=Friends Of Scouting Luncheon Welcomes Coach Bobby Bowden |url=https://www.chattanoogan.com/2020/2/25/404705/Friends-Of-Scouting-Luncheon-Welcomes.aspx |website=Chattanoogan |date=February 25, 2020 |access-date= 2021-05-14}}

|website={{url|www.cherokeeareabsa.com}}

}}

The Cherokee Area Council serves Scouts in Tennessee and Georgia, with the council office located in Chattanooga, Tennessee and The council is divided into four districts.{{Cite web |title=Cherokee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America |url=http://www.cherokeeareabsa.com |access-date=2008-05-29}} Active from 1914, programs offered include: Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA, Venturing, and Learning for Life. The council's Skymont Scout Reservation provides year-round and summer camping opportunities on the Cumberland Plateau.{{Cite web|url=http://www.skymont.org|title=Skymont Scout Reservation|access-date=2008-05-29}}

Skymont Scout Reservation, which consists of over {{convert|2400|acre|km2}} on the edge of the Cumberland Mountains Plateau, hosts Scouts BSA summer camps, Cub Scout family camps and high adventure activities throughout the summer and other camps during the year. It is also home of the Talidandaganu' Lodge of the Order of the Arrow.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tali293.org/council.htm|title=Talidandaganu' Lodge #293|access-date=2008-05-29|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610013103/http://www.tali293.org/council.htm|archive-date=2008-06-10}}

{{Main|Chickasaw Council}}

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|name=Chickasaw Council (#558)

|image=

|type=council

|owner=Boy Scouts of America

|headquarters=Memphis, Tennessee

|country=United States

|coords=

|f-date=February 22, 1916

|defunct=

|founders=

|founder=

|members=

|chiefscouttitle=Scout Executive/CEO

|chiefscout=Casey Norwood

|chiefscouttitle2=Program Director

|chiefscout2=Johnny Tracy

|website={{url|http://www.chickasaw.org}}

}}

The Chickasaw Council serves Scouts in the Memphis metropolitan area, including all of Shelby County (Tennessee) and Crittenden County (Arkansas), as well as fifteen counties in the Mississippi Delta, including districts that were merged from the Delta Area Council in 1993.

Kia Kima Scout Reservation, near Hardy, Arkansas on the South Fork Spring River, was founded in 1916 by Memphis philanthropist Bolton Smith. The reservation, which hosts Chickasaw Council summer camps, is split into three properties: Camp Osage, Camp Cherokee and the Ozark Venture Base. The original Kia Kima facilities (pre-1963) have been restored and maintained as Old Kia Kima by a separate non-profit group.

Camp Currier, Eudora, Mississippi, near Memphis, was founded in 1925 to host weekend camping and training events throughout the year. (The more remote Kia Kima operated only during the summer for most of its history.)

{{Main|Great Smoky Mountain Council}}

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|name=Great Smoky Mountain Council (#556)

|image=

|type=council

|owner=Boy Scouts of America

|headquarters=Knoxville, Tennessee

|location=

|country=United States

|coords=

|f-date=1915

|defunct=

|founders=

|founder=

|members=

|chiefscouttitle=Scout Executive

|chiefscout=David Williams

|chiefscouttitle2=Program Director

|chiefscout2=Mic Mullins

|website=[https://easttnscouts.org/ easttnscouts.org]

}}

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

The council is divided in to 6 districts.

• Cades Cove District
• Cataloochee District
• Eagle Creek District
• Mount Cammerer District
• Mount Le Conte District
• Tremont District (STEM Scouts)

The council operates two camps, Camp Buck Toms and Camp Pellissippi. Camp Buck Toms is the primary camp of the council and is located in Rockwood, Tennessee on the shores of Watts Bar Lake. Camp Buck Toms operates as the council's summer camp property. Camp Pellissippi is located in Andersonville, Tennessee on Norris Lake, and formerly served as the council's summer camp until 1977.

{{Main|Middle Tennessee Council}}

The Middle Tennessee Council serves 37 Middle Tennessee counties, and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|name=Sequoyah Council

|image=File:Sequoyah Council Boy Scout office.jpg

|caption = Council office in Johnson City

|type=council

|owner=Boy Scouts of America

|headquarters=

|location=

|country=United States

|coords=

|f-date=

|defunct=

|founders=

|founder=

|members=

|chiefscouttitle=President

|chiefscout=

|chiefscouttitle2=Council Commissioner

|chiefscout2=

|chiefscouttitle3=Scout Executive

|chiefscout3=

|website=

}}

The Sequoyah Council serves Scouts in Northeast Tennessee and Virginia.

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

"[https://campdavycrockett.org/ Camp Davy Crockett]", near Rogersville, Tennessee, was founded in 1972.

{{Main|Lincoln Heritage Council}}

The Four Rivers District of the Louisville, Kentucky-based Lincoln Heritage Council includes BSA units in South Fulton, Tennessee, located on the state border across from Fulton, Kentucky.

Headquartered in Jackson, the West Tennessee Area Council (WTAC) serves Scouts in all Tennessee counties west of the Tennessee River except for Shelby County (Chickasaw Council).

• Western District
• Central District
• Tennessee River 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ittawamba.org/|title=Ittawamba Lodge 235|access-date=2013-01-20}}

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|name=Girl Scouting in Tennessee today

|image=File:Tennessee Girl Scout Council map.svg

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

|type=council

|owner=

|headquarters=

|location=

|country=United States

|coords=

|f-date=

|defunct=

|founders=

|founder=

|members=

|chiefscouttitle=President

|chiefscout=

|chiefscouttitle2=Council Commissioner

|chiefscout2=

|chiefscouttitle3=Scout Executive

|chiefscout3=

|website=

}}

There are four Girl Scout councils serving Tennessee.

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

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

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.{{cite web|title=About|url=http://www.girlscoutshs.org/en/about-girl-scouts/who-we-are.html|publisher=Girl Scouts Heart of the South|access-date=29 August 2016}}

Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee

Camps:

• Kamp Kiwani is {{convert|1250|acre|ha}} including a {{convert|70|acre|ha|adj=on}} lake in Middleton, Tennessee{{cite web|title=Kamp Kiwani|url=http://www.girlscoutshs.org/en/outdoors/kamp-kiwani.html|publisher=Girl Scouts Heart of the South|access-date=4 September 2016}}
• Camp Tik-A-Witha is {{convert|310|acre|ha}} with a {{convert|20|acre|ha}} lake in Van Vleet, Chickasaw County, Mississippi next to the Tombigbee National Forest.{{cite web|title=Camp Tik-A-Witha|url=http://www.girlscoutshs.org/en/outdoors/camp-tik-a-witha.html|publisher=Girl Scouts Heart of the South|access-date=4 September 2016}}
• Camp Fisherville is {{convert|72|acre|ha}} in Fisherville, Tennessee{{cite web|title=Camp Fisherville|url=http://www.girlscoutshs.org/en/outdoors/camp-fisherville.html|publisher=Girl Scouts Heart of the South|access-date=4 September 2016}}
• Girl Scout Program/Training Center in Memphis, 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.{{cite web|title=About|url=http://gsmidtn.org/about-us/|website=Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee|access-date=30 August 2016}}

Headquarters: Nashville, Tennessee

Camps:

• Camp Holloway is {{convert|76|acre|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).{{cite web|title=Josephine Groves Holloway|url=http://gsmidtn.org/josephine-holloway/|publisher=Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee|access-date=4 September 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Perry|first1=Elisabeth Israels|title=Josephine Groves Holloway|url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=641|website=Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture|publisher=University of Tennessee Press|access-date=4 September 2016}}
• Camp Nee Kah Nah is {{convert|354|acre|ha}} in Gainesboro, Tennessee. Its name derives from "friendship crossing" in Cherokee.
• Camp Piedmont is {{convert|29|acre|ha}} in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
• Camp Sycamore Hills is {{convert|742|acre|ha}} in Ashland City, Tennessee. It was established in 1959.

Founded in 2017, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee Troop 6000 serves scouts at homeless shelters across Middle Tennessee.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-11|title=Girl Scout troop helps foster sisterhood at homeless shelters|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/girl-scout-troop-helps-foster-sisterhood-at-homeless-shelters|access-date=2022-02-11|website=WTVF|language=en}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.girlscoutcsa.org/en/our-council/about-our-council.html|title=About our Council|publisher=Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians|access-date=28 August 2016}}

Camps:{{cite web|url=http://www.girlscoutcsa.org/en/camps/our-camps.html|title=Our Camps|publisher=Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians|access-date=28 August 2016}}

• Camp Wildwood in Johnson City, Tennessee is {{convert|12|acre|ha}} owned by the Harris Foundation but for the use of the Girl Scouts.
• Camp Tanasi covers {{convert|461|acre|ha}} on Norris Lake near Andersonville
• Camp Adahi covers {{convert|900|acre|ha}} on Lookout Mountain in Georgia and includes {{convert|10|acre|ha}} lake. It was acquired in 1965.

Former camps:

• Camp Sky-Wa-Mo in Bluff City, Tennessee. Put on the market in September 2012.{{cite news|title=Camp Sky-Wa-Mo to be sold|url=http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/camp-sky-wa-mo-to-be-sold/article_3490f63e-4cbf-540b-a713-c496a77ddcdd.html|access-date=28 August 2016|work=Bristol Herald-Courier|date=13 September 2010}}
• Camp Windy Knob in Greenville, Tennessee
• Warren-Kelly Memorial Center for Girls("The Hut") in Big Stone Gap, Virginia

{{Main|Scouting museums}}

• The Girl Scout Museum at Daisy's Place, Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians Office in Knoxville{{Cite web|url=http://www.artmuseumtouring.com/GS.html|title=Girl Scout Museum|website=www.artmuseumtouring.com}}
• Peregrine International Museum of Scouting{{Cite web|url=http://usscouts.org/usscouts/profbvr/scouts_on_tour/tennessee.html|title=USSSP|website=usscouts.org}}

{{commons category}}

{{Portal|Scouting}}

• Big Cypress Tree State Park

{{Reflist}}

{{Scouting in the United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scouting In Tennessee}}

Tennessee

Category:Youth organizations based in Tennessee

Category:Southern Region (Boy Scouts of America)