Scouting in Arkansas

Scouting in Arkansas has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

Early history (1910-1950)

The Arkadelphia Boy Scout Hut in Arkadelphia is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1914, the BSA gave local councils the power to ban African Americans from Scouting. (Macleod, David Irving. Building Character in the American Boy: The Boy Scouts, YMCA, and Their Forerunners, 1870-1920. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, WI, 1983. P 213.) Until 1974, some southern councils of the Boy Scouts of America were still racially segregated. (The Old Hickory council did not integrate until 1974. See "Camp Timeless; Raven Knob Marks 50 Years as Boy Scouts Still Enjoy Its Wonder." Winston-Salem Journal, 17 July 2005, B1.) Previous entries that claimed segregated Scouting ended in 1948 are false. The 1974 settlement between the BSA and the NAACP over racial discrimination required the BSA to issue its first non-discrimination policy regarding race (Stipulation and Order, NAACP, et al. v. Boy Scouts of America, et al. (Civil No. C-74-329): U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, Central Division, 1974.)

Recent history (1950-1990)

Scouting in Arkansas today

There are six Boy Scouts of America local councils in Arkansas.

Chickasaw Council

Main article: Scouting in Tennessee

Chickasaw Council serves Scouts in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Caddo Area Council

Caddo Area Council serves Scouts in Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas.

• Caddo Area Council official website: http://www.caddobsa.org/
• Operates Camp Pioneer in Hatfield, Arkansas, a regional Boy Scout Resident Summer Camp. See http://www.camppioneer.org
• Operates Camp Preston Hunt near Texarkana, Arkansas, a Cub Scout and Webelos Resident Camp, and year-round camping facility.
• Home of Akela Wahinapay Lodge #232, Order of the Arrow. See http://www.lodge232.org/
• Council Service Center located at 24 Lynnwood Drive, Texarkana, Texas 75503

De Soto Area Council

• Conquistador District De Soto Area Council
• Loblolly District
• 3 Rivers District

Headquartered in El Dorado, Arkansas and supported by the Abooikpaagun Lodge #399 of the Order of the Arrow.

Ouachita Area Council

• Official website: http://www.ouachitabsa.org
• Headquarted in Hot Springs, AR (102 Chippewa Court - Hot Springs, AR 71901)
• Serving Scouts in west central Arkansas with two districts:

* Diamond Lakes

* Nisha Sippo (translated to mean "Three Rivers")

• Home of the Wazhazee Lodge #366, Order of the Arrow http://www.ouachitabsa.org/oa

Quapaw Area Council

• Quapaw Area Council website: http://www.quapawbsa.org/
• Cherokee District
• Delta District
• Foothills District
• Mohawk District
• Saracen District
• Thunderbird District
• Three Rivers District
• White River District

Quapaw Lodge #160 - Order of the Arrow http://quapawlodge.org/

Westark Area Council

• [Westark Area Council website]: http://www.westarkbsa.org/
• Butterfield Trail District
• Magazine Mountain District
• Ozark District
• [Razorback District]: http://www.razorbackscouts.org/

Girl Scouting in Arkansas

There are two Girl Scout councils in Arkansas.

Girl Scouts - Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas

Girl Scouts - Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas serves girls in all of Arkansas except Crittenden county, girls in Adair, LeFlore, and Sequoyah counties in Oklahoma, and girls in Bowie and Cass counties in Texas.

It was formed on October 1, 2008 by the merger of Arkansas Post Girl Scout Council, Girl Scouts of Conifer Council, Girl Scouts of Crowley's Ridge Council, Girl Scout Council of Mount Magazine Area, Noark Girl Scout Council, and Girl Scouts of Ouachita Council

Headquarters: North Little Rock, Arkansas
Website: http://www.girlscoutsdiamonds.org

Service Centers:

• Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Fort Smith, Arkansas
• Jonesboro, Arkansas
• Pine Bluff, Arkansas
• Texarkana, Arkansas

Camps:

• Camp Cahinnio is almost 400 acres (1.6 km²) near Booneville, Arkansas
• Camp High Point is 163 acres (0.66 km²) in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains east of Mena, Arkansas. It was established in 1945.
• Camp Noark is 300 acres (1.2 km²) in the Ozarks near Huntsville, Arkansas.
• Camp Storeywood is 100 acres (0.40 km²) near Searcy, Arkansas. CLOSED Sept 2009
• Camp Crossed Arrows is 400 acres (1.6 km²) south of Batesville, Arkansas. It opened in 1965.

Girl Scouts Heart of The South

See Scouting in Tennessee. In Arkansas serves Crittenden county.

Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee
Website: http://www.girlscoutshs.org

See also

Scouting portal

Roy Williams (Scouting)

External links

• East Arkansas Area Council Historical Preservation Society