By Jay Ermis
The Boy Scouts of America officially celebrate its 100th anniversary Monday.
The Boy Scouts of Huntsville have been in existence since 1909 — a year longer than the BSA.
Huntsville Boy Scouts will celebrate the anniversary with the grand opening of the 100 Years of Boy Scout Memorabilia Exhibit in the Walker Education Center on 19th Street at 6 p.m. Monday.
The public is invited to attend.
The exhibit, featuring photographs and memorabilia from the early 1900s, will be open at the Walker center through Feb. 28.
The exhibit is one of many activities planned to commemorate the 100th anniversary, including a parade at 9 a.m. Saturday, the rededication of the Josey Boy Scout Lodge at 10, honoring its 75th anniversary, followed by a variety of activities at Josey Park, and the banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday at Sam Houston State University’s Lowman Student Center where several people will be recognized.
Will Oliver, chair of the BSA 100th anniversary planning committee, said the exhibit will answer such questions as:
• Have you ever wondered how the Boy Scouts of America started and why they have lasted for 100 years?
• Have you ever driven down Sam Houston Avenue and wondered what the Josey Boy Scout Lodge was, why it was built, and who was Josey?
• Have your ever driven down I-45, past a sign for the Boy Scouts of America’s Camp Strake and wonder how that came to be?
• And, have you ever wondered why the Eagle rank is so important in the Boy Scouts?
Oliver said the memorabilia was donated after “we put out a call to the community to old Scouters and Scouts and Eagle Scouts to donate their items. We’ve had a really great response.
“People went digging through their attics and basements, pulling it all out and bringing it to us at a troop meeting or to the First United Methodist Church.”
Oliver said the oldest items are from the early 1900s and 1920s, including a coin from the 1911 to 1919 era.
“It is a Scout coin where on one side is a Scout and the other side is a swastika,” he said. “You look at it and you think my gosh what in the world is that. It turns out that until (Adolph) Hitler came along the swastika was considered a good luck symbol.
“It was a good luck Scout symbol. When Hitler came along, he incorporated the swastika as part of the Hitler youth movement and Nazism and subverted the symbol.”
Oliver said the display will feature a history of the Boy Scouts of America by presenting the founding of the Boy Scouts by Lord Baden-Powell and the incorporation of the Boy Scouts of America by William Boyce on Feb. 8, 1910.
“There will also be a history of the Josey Boy Scout Lodge, detailing how it came about with a biography of Mr. Robert A. Josey, accompanied by pictures and various artifacts,” he said. “There will be a timeline of the Boy Scouts of America along with a variety of exhibits, including historical Boy Scout Manuals, Boy’s Life magazines, and Merit Badge books.
“There will be displays on Cub Scouts, Scoutmasters, and Scout religious medals. In addition, a display of the Norman Rockwell paintings will be on hand with an explanation for how Rockwell came to be so closely associated with the Boy Scouts. There will also be displays on the national and international Jamborees, Philmont, and Camp Strake.”
“Finally, there will be a display of Texas Eagle Scouts, including a mixture of famous Texas Eagles, famous Huntsville Eagles, and some Eagles who will most likely be famous in the future,” Oliver said. “All of these exhibits will include photographs and memorabilia through the ages, all generously loaned to the Boy Scouts from many very kind and generous residents of Huntsville.
“If you are an older Scout, it will be a time to reminisce. If you are younger Scout, it will be a time to learn about your Scouting roots.”
For more information, phone Oliver at (936) 294-4173 or e-mail woliver@shsu.edu
