Girl Scouts

Gold Award shout-out!

A few months ago, I listened via Virginia Commonwealth University Community Zoom to Girl Scout Amelia V. Johnson detail her Gold Award project, “The Historical Ownership and Land Use of VCU Rice Rivers Center.”

“After a year of research into land patents, deeds, wills, and reports, [Johnson] uncovered a previously unknown line of property ownership. She also gathered important information on the Weyanoke Native American tribe and identified 94 enslaved individuals who impacted the property.

“Her goal was to document and showcase the contributions of native populations and enslaved persons, whose legacies are important to preserve, and to share their stories with the public.”

Johnson created a database of enslaved people held on the property and designed the remarkable educational sign that now stands on the Center’s grounds. I was deeply inspired by her interest in public history and her meticulous work, and I count her as a role model for Black Wide-Awake. Bravo, Amelia Johnson!

Girl Scouts hoop.

Wilson Daily Times, 17 November 1950.

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This little two-team league charms me endlessly, not least because I know so many of the players, who are now (or would be — rest in peace) in their late 80s.

The Red Raiders’ squad were co-captains Barbara Jones and Hattie Henderson, and Marjorie Taylor, Louise Holiday, Betty Mincey, Evangeline Reid, Helen Barnes, Myrtle Lynch, Ruth Hart, Jean Wynn, and Mary Morris.

Ruby Delaney and Fay Bryant were co-captains of the White Phantoms, with Bernice Artis, Shirley Best, Charlotte Cooper, Julia King, Annie Coley, and Jean Reid rounding out the team.

Troop 11 receive their pins.

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Wilson Daily Times, 11 December 1946.

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  • W.C. Hart — Walter C. Hart
  • Calvary Presbyterian Church
  • Rev. O.J. Hawkins
  • The Girl Scouts — Jean Wynn, Marjorie Taylor, Helen Barnes, Ruth Hart, Vilma Dew, Mary Morris, Barbara Jones, Evangeline Reid, Myrtle Lynch and Dorthy Bynum

Hattie Margaret Henderson joined Troop 11 shortly after the first group of girls received their pins. This Girl Scout Handbook, published in 1948, belonged to Henderson.

Negro scouts revived.

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Wilson Daily Times, 16 August 1946.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 May 1949.

  • Mrs. W.C. Hart — Spartanburg, South Carolina native Sophia Shelton Hart was a teacher.
  • Mrs. B.O. Barnes — Flossie Howard Barnes.
  • The Girl Scouts — Mildred Mincey, Cleo Taylor, Louise Holiday, Joyce Walker, Joan Wright, Thelma Weaver, Betty Mincey, Bella Mildred Gilchrist, Barbara Hodges, Brownie Moore, Ruth Hart, Helen Barnes, Hattie M. Henderson, Marjorie Taylor, Clara Cannon, Selma Brown, Vilma Dew, Jean Wynn, Myrtle Lynch, Mary Morris, Barbara Hodges, Evangeline Reid, Barbara Jones.

Sophia and Walter C. Hart, early 1930s.

Hill’s Wilson, N.C., City Directory (1947-1948).

Photograph courtesy of grandson Keith M. Harris.