Scouting, Volume 78, Number 6, November-December 1990 Page: 38
58, [24] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Most of Troop 89's old Scouts hadn't seen each other since their
adolescent years.
Troop 89 s first Eagle Scout, Joe Carter, still lives in the unit's
old hometown.
to his regret, never made Star Scout. But,
incredibly, he successfully hurdled bar-
riers that no longer exist for today's black
Scouts. In 1964 he was awarded a doc-
toral degree from prestigious Purdue
University, despite his inability to earn a
Swimming merit badge.
Not bad for a boy who worked seven
days a week in a USO club during World
War II. His pay was $7.50 a week, and he
wanted to quit high school to go to the
lumber mill where laborers earned $14 a
week. His mom said "No!"
"Troop 89 gave me my first opportu-
nity for responsibility and leadership,"
Dr. Jerkins recalls. "My first teaching
job in Scotland Neck, N.C., came not
because I had a degree. I got the job
because the principal wanted somebody
to be a Scoutmaster."
Elbert O. Robinson, now an associate
director of Cub Scouting in the BSA's
national office in Irving, Tex., also be-
came a Scoutmaster and a schoolteacher.
Would you believe that "Eee-Oh"—that's
what the guys called him—was fired from
his teaching job in Garland, N.C., be-
cause of Scouting?
Here's how it came about. In 1952 Rob-
inson received a letter informing him that
he had been accepted at the training
school for professional Scouters at Schiff
Scout Reservation in Mendham, N.J.
Elated, he shared this information with
his principal.
The principal exploded. "I can't re-
place you in the middle of the school
year," he complained. Robbie Robinson
figured that was that. So he was surprised
and shocked when the principal sum-
moned him to his office three weeks later
and dropped a bombshell. "Your replace-
ment will be here next Monday, Robin-
son."
Immediate dismissal didn't thrill him,
for he had a wife, a baby, and negligible
amounts of cash. Somehow he scraped
38
together the money he needed and went to
Schiff, a course of action he has never
regretted.
Upon graduation he started a new ca-
reer as a field Scout executive in Golds-
boro, N.C. The guy who shoved him into
professional Scouting was a white district
chairman of Scouting whom he did not
know. This man was the district superin-
tendent of schools and, obviously, he had
suggested to the principal the district
would not collapse if he released Robbie
from the contract.
Troop 89's first Eagle Scout, Joseph
Carter, became a schoolteacher on Mary-
land's eastern shore. A volunteer in
Scouting for 18 years, Carter served in
Korea, as did many from Troop 89, and
earned five medals. He loved Troop 89.
"I liked camping and fishing and I had
no brothers," said Carter. "So I joined
the troop-and had lots of brothers. At one
time we had 105 members in the troop.
Many different churches sponsored us."
The fact is, Troop 89 never found a
permanent home. That was not all bad,
for many organizations in the community
—including St. Catherine's Catholic
Cornerstone Church continues to serve
the youths and adults of the Elizabeth City,
N.C., area.
November-December 1990 rfr Scouting
Church, Cornerstone Missionary Baptist
Church, the Cale Street Recreation
Center, and Tom Lamb's dance hall—took
turns in providing meeting rooms.
Times were tough. Joseph Carter got a
uniform by paying a little down to a local
merchant and a little a week. This was a
fairly common arrangement if your fam-
ily was respected and trusted in the com-
munity.
"What I remember most about the
troop is that when we participated in any-
thing, we did so with pride," said Carter.
What mattered then to young people
was what matters now. Acceptance by
peers. Feelings of accomplishment. Test-
ing yourself against others. Developing
leadership skills. Preparing for adult-
hood. Scoutmaster Johnson was up to the
task.
Once Troop 89 was registered with the
Tidewater Council, he taught the boys the
Scout Oath and Law. He preached the
patrol method and insisted on a troop
budget plan that cost each Scout $5 a year.
Advancement was taken for granted. The
first summer he told the Scouts they had
to go camping to prepare a court of honor.
All of the original Scouts at the 50th
reunion could recall that first troop
camp-out. A torrential rain descended on
the greenhorns who today, a half century
later, remember that miserable outing as
the great Scouting adventure of all time.
And for those who were there, it was.
Scoutmaster Bruce Johnson is among
those who regard that event as a crucible
in which the spirit and pride of Troop 89
were forged.
"Some of us had pitched our tents right
and some wrong," he reflected during a
contemplative moment at the reunion.
"But from then on. Scouting grew in their
minds.
"They discovered they could live out-
doors. Nothing would chase them. Noth-
ing would bite them or devour them.
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 6, November-December 1990, periodical, November 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353650/m1/38/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.