“Bugler Finds Camp Hard Work”

Staff life isn’t for everyone. While some people will swear that the best friendships they ever formed were on camp staff, there are others for whom staff just didn’t click. Staff rosters are littered with one year people who never came back.

Such was the case with Paul Elliot in 1980. Hired as a bugler and kitchen staff member in 1980, Elliot was not happy with staff life. To be fair, at 12 years old and a second class Scout, he was below the bar for staff membership even in the 1980s. Did anyone know these details? The article doesn’t say.

Nevertheless, the article points out some hard realities of staff life in the 1980s. First year staff made $10 a week. Kitchen staff were up at 5:30 in the morning, often toasting hundreds of pieces of bread. Never let it be said that camp staff is easy!

Robert Sherborne, “Bugler Finds Camp Hard Work,” _The Tennessean_, July 3, 1980, pg. 13.

Robert Sherborne, “Bugler Finds Camp Hard Work,” _The Tennessean_, July 3, 1980, pg. 13.

Charles M. Cooper

Charles M. Cooper was the first African American professional Scouter for the Nashville Council.  Hired on to the Council staff in June 1943 as a Field Executive, Cooper headed the Colored Division, what would be called the J. C. Napier division beginning in 1944.

Born in Chattanooga, Cooper graduated from Tuskegee Institute in 1926.  By the 1930s Cooper was in middle Tennessee.  He served as the Sunday School Superintendent for Spruce Street Baptist Church and was a founding member of the Tuskegee Club, an alumni club for his alma mater.  And by at least 1938, he was involved as Scoutmaster of Troop 79, sponsored by Spruce Street Baptist.

Along with Commissioner George Anderson and Division Chairman E. J. Turner, Cooper took the Nashville Council’s Colored Division to a new level.  The division had existed for over a decade by 1943, but it was under Cooper that the Division secured a dedicated office in the Morris Memorial Building and held the longest summer camp program in the history of the division at four weeks.  He expanded “colored Scouting” into Tullahoma, Pulaski, and Columbia.  Land was purchased for what would become Camp Burton.  The division also held an annual field day and bi-annual courts of honor.  Under Cooper, the Division saw its first ever Eagle Scout in December 1944.

Cooper resigned from Scouting in May 1949.  The most likely explanation is that Cooper resigned in protest over the reorganization of the Nashville Council into the Middle Tennessee Council in January 1949.  The reorganization led to the creation of districts and the hiring of district executives to cover the 38 county service area.  Despite his success and reach over the exact same service area, the Napier Division did not receive a similar expansion to growing Scouting.

Cooper remained involved as a volunteer, serving as a district commissioner and committee chair in the 1950s.  He passed away in March 1987, one of the great unsung heroes of middle Tennessee Scouting.  We can find no photo, but he is at least mentioned here in the baton hand-off from Anderson to Akers in September 1947 (_Nashville Banner_).

“New Scout Executive Takes Over Duties,” _Nashville Banner_, September 16, 1947, pg 8.

The First Women

To our knowledge, there have been several “firsts” concerning women and Boxwell’s program. The first woman on staff at Boxwell Reservation was cook Norma Cardiff (1960 and 1961). The longest serving female staff member was cook Pearl Schleicher (1962-1994). The first woman on Parnell staff was Judi Eubank, serving as Kitchen Director in 1974. The first female program director was Elizabeth Nicholson at Camp Murrey (1960). The first female area director was Diane Gregory, Field Sports (1997).

But the very first female on Boxwell Staff appears to date all the way back to Rock Island. Nashville Banner “Scout correspondent” Louis Hine reported in June 1951 that two women had joined the Rock Island staff. Mrs. Jean Murdock and Mrs. Tom Pedigo joined cook Ike Davis and dish-washer Jim (possibly Davis). The two women were considered “Senior Staff” and planned the camp’s meals. Murdock in particular was a dietitian.

And that’s all we know. We don’t know their full names. We don’t know how many summers they served. We don’t know what they looked like as we have no photos of them. All we know for sure is they appeared in this article in the Nashville Banner and appear to be the very first women on Boxwell staff.

Louis Hines, “100 Boy Scouts Enjoy Activities at Scenic Boxwell Reservation,” Nashville Banner, June 28, 1951, pg. 15