A FLASH BLACK MOMENT IN HISTORY: According to GSA, the first Black-American Girl Scout troupe was formed in 1917.However, all other historical records point to the first troupe having been formed in 1924 by Josephine Groves Holloway.
Mrs. Holloway was born in South Carolina and moved to Tennessee in 1919.
Mrs.Holloway received a degree in Sociology from Fisk in 1923 after putting herself through college. Immediately following graduation, she became a Girls’ Worker at Bethlehem Center and attended training to become a Girl Scout Leader at George Peabody College for Teachers.
She successfully started the first troop for Black American girls in 1924. During her training in 1924, Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low commissioned her as Captain (leader). She was authorized to form troops for Black girls at the Bethlehem Center.
She started out with over 150 girls in 10 troops and it kept growing! By the end of 1924 there were over 300 girls.
After leaving the Center, she later formed unofficial troops in the 1930s, using a copy of the Girl Scout handbook to lead her troops.
These troops were finally officially recognized and registered in 1943. In 1955, Camp Holloway, named after Josephine Groves Holloway, opened its grounds in Millersville, Tennessee
Pictures: Black-American Girl Scout Troop in Dixie 1930s.
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