History of Girl Scouts in Greenville Over the last 88 years Girl Scouts have had a long history of activity in Greenville. The first Girl Scout troop was formed by Juliette Low in Savannah, Ga. in 1912 and since then millions of young girls have become scouts around the world. The Girl Scouts, under the guidance of caring leaders, prepare for their future roles as citizens and professional women in a recreational and educational atmosphere. In early 1920, Miss Ernestine Forbes and Miss Novella Moye organized the first Girl Scout group in Greenville. In June 1920, these girls joined the Boy Scouts for a ten day campout to White Lake in Bladen County, NC. In 1921, the Girl Scouts raised money to join the Boy Scouts for a ten day outing to Pamlico Beach in Beaufort County. Over the next many years both the Girl Scout and Boy Scout movements in Greenville had a tough time with starts and stops. In 1931, Mrs. J. B. Smith, Mrs. Howard McGinnis, and Mrs. E. P. Arnold formed another troop under the leadership of Miss Jeanette Whedmore and Miss Inez VanDyke. This group too disbanded and after years of trying to get local women’s groups to sponsor a troop, the Woman’s Missionary Society of the Memorial Baptist Church created a troop in April 1937. This troop, organized by Mrs. Ralph Mozo and Mrs. Eugene Wilson, had 42 girls at its first meeting. In Dec. 1937, another Girl Scout organization was started under the leadership of Miss Evelyn Rogers of the Greenville High School faculty and Mrs. Herman Chase, an instructor at the College. In 1938, Miss Virginia Boerger of Duluth, Minn., a Greenville High School teacher, organized Girl Scout Troop No. 1. Under her capable leadership, by 1939 membership had grown from 18 to 160 girls. In March 1939 another Girl Scout troop was organized and sponsored by the Greenville Business and Professional Women’s Club. According to feature on the Girl Scouts in the local newspaper in Oct. 1939, the Girl Scouts were organized in Greenville for less than a year and received money from the Greenville Community Chest. There were “157 Girl Scouts in Greenville; two senior Girl Scout troops, three intermediate troops, one Brownie pack, 40 second class scouts, five first class Scouts, 15 Brownies and 97 tenderfoot Scouts.” Sponsors of these groups were the Greenville Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Presbyterian Church and the Woman’s Club. The following year the Girl Scouts had entered into the clean-up week program; sang Christmas Carols at the hospital, participated in the Christmas Seal sale, conducted a Christmas Party for underprivileged children, gave Christmas baskets, acted as hostesses at the leadership meeting at Rocky Mount, NC, marched in the Legion Parade, marched in the Memorial Day parade, maintained a child nursery for children of employed mothers and helped others keep order during the Halloween Street Dance. In Nov. 1939, Student Lieutenants were named to assist different troops, they being: Margaret Johnston and Martha Barton in charge of Troop 2 of Intermediate Scouts; Ann Hardee and Margaret Lee Duke to conduct troop 4 and Anne B. Blank and Mary Elizabeth Austin to conduct the Brownie Pack. In Dec. 1939, the first Girl Scout Advisory Council was organized and Mrs. J. B. Kittrell was named as the first commissioner; Dr. Dr. S. M. Crisp, deputy commissioner and Mrs. E. L. Henderson, secretary-treasurer. The other directors were Mrs. J. B. Smith, training; Miss Helen Gaskins, camping; J. J. White, finance; Dr. R. S. Boyd, public reading; Mrs. E. P. Duke, programs; Mrs. Fred Blank, statistical; J. B. James and Mrs. H. H. Duncan, community. The Greenville Girl Scout Council, Inc. was formed under the direction of J. B. James, an attorney, and Miss Florence Lanning acted as the first executive secretary until December 1941. Mrs. J. D. Collins, Jr. of Atlanta, Ga. acted as the next executive secretary. In 1940, spearheaded by J. H. Rose, a cabin at the intersection of 14th and Elm Streets was obtained for Girl Scout use and was called the “Little House.” The cabin had a library, kitchen, sleeping facilities and a large meeting and game room. It was used for several years and eventually became a private residence. In 1941, the Girl Scouts had an office in the Greenville Municipal building, had activities on the second floor of the Rotary Building and had summer day camps at the farm of Greenville Mayor, B. B. Sugg on the Falkland highway. In June 1941, at a meeting of the Camp Committee of the Girl Scout Council, Dr. S. M. Crisp, chairman of the committee, announced that the Girl Scout Council had acquired an option on 21 acres on Pamlico Sound, eight miles below Washington. Because of the generosity of a group of Greenville citizens, the Rotary Club and a $10,000 Memorial gift from Henry Hardee, Camp Hardee was formally dedicated on June 27, 1942. The site was named Camp Hardee as a memorial to Hardee’s parents, Epenetus and Serena Nelson Hardee. Miss Jane McConnell of Clarksville, Ga. was named as the third executive secretary and as the first director of Camp Hardee. Others who served as Directors of Camp Hardee were Mrs. James T. Uzzle, Mrs. Katherine Adams, Mrs. E. L. Henderson and Mrs. J. Knott Proctor (who served from 1952-1959). In May 1941, the Blount-Harvey Department store opened a Girl Scout equipment department and in Oct. 1941the senior Girl Scout Council opened a service bureau in Blount–Harvey’s to distribute service materials to scouts. In March of every year during the week-long celebration of the Girls Scouts birthday it is remembered that Blount-Harvey’s gave out Girl Scout souvenirs. In Oct. 1941, Mary Ann Duncan was the first Girl Scout in Greenville to attain her first class ranking at a Court of Award Ceremony held at the High School. Others who received their First Class recognition the same time were Joyce Corbett, Dorothy Nell Henderson, Marie Rouse and Ann Cox. Also formed in 1941 was the Senior Scouts called the “Mariners” consisting of Sarah Moore, Janet Evans, Margaret Jones, Jane Smith, Dorothy Mixon, Josephine Gibson, Pat Waldrop, and Pearl Saieed. Other Girl Scout leaders at this time were Mrs. J. H. Waldrop, Mrs. R. C. Rankin, Mrs. Jack Kilgo, Mrs. Roy Coburn and Mrs. Ed Anthony. On Nov. 17, 1941, Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt came to Greenville and the Girl Scouts met her and presented her with a bouquet of flowers during a ceremony on the porch of the College President’s home on Fifth Street. In Jan. 1942, the Curved Bar, the highest award in Girl Scouting, was presented for the first time in Greenville to Dorothy Nell Henderson, Eleanor James and Kathryn VanNortwick. In Feb. 1942, the black Girl Scout Leadership Association was formed which organized the five black Girl Scout Troops that had recently formed. Miss Sadie I. Saulter, a school teacher, was named as the first president; Mrs. C. E. Artis as vice-president; Miss A. L. Morgan as secretary; Miss Lottie Gray as asst. secretary and Mrs. D. L. Daniels as treasurer. The group met on the first Monday of each month, alternately at Fifth Street School and Fleming Street School. By 1943 there were six black Girl Scout troops, one being Brownie Troop 14, under the leadership of C. V. Chase. Because of the racial separation at the time, black Girl Scout troops held their day camps in the woods beside the Fifth Street School in West Greenville. Some of the early black Girl Scout leaders were Mrs. N. W. Cherry, Mrs. C. V. Marshmond, Mrs. L. V. Sledge, Mrs. L. R. Taylor, Mrs. M. B. Godett, Miss S. A. Phillips, Miss C. M. McKnight, Mrs. M. G. Robinson, and Miss Caesar. In Dec. 1942, Mrs. E. N. Henderson was named as the second Girl Scout Commissioner and she was followed by Mrs. W. P. Moore, Mrs. J. Knott Proctor, Mrs. J. K. Long, Mrs. B. B. Sugg, Jr., Mrs. Charles White and Mrs. W. M. Reading. In 1943, the City of Greenville gave the Girl Scouts a piece of land in the ravine facing Third Street with a small house on it. The Girl Scouts wanted to remodel the house into a new “Little House” and because of WWII, building supplies were scarce. The Girl Scouts went on a campaign to get contributions of building supplies. In 1954, the Girl Scout Cookie Sale was held for the first time during “Girl scout Week” in March and the proceeds were to benefit the “Little House” project. Whatever became of the “Little House” project is unclear. The Greenville Girl Scouts Council held annual banquets and “Teas” at the Woman’s Club and later at the Rotary Club. At a banquet at the Rotary Club in Feb. 1947, Mrs. Frank Bendall was presented with the Girl Scout Thank Badge for her years of service to the Greenville Girl Scouts. Pitt County had two representatives, Shirley Harrell and Noel Lang, selected to attend the annual Senior Roundup held in Colorado Springs, Co. in July 1958. In 1959, there was a consolidation of small councils and the Greenville Girl Scouts Council joined the Coastal Carolina Council. The Coastal Carolina Council, based in Goldsboro, NC, included 20 counties extending from Wilmington to Martin County. The Coastal Carolina Council operated three established Girl Scout camps: Camp Hardee, Camp Traillee and Pretty Pond. In the event of a dissolution of the Coastal Carolina Council, camp properties would revert back to their former owners. _________________________________________________________________ See how Windows Mobile brings your life together—at home, work, or on the go. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093182mrt/direct/01/