First in Black Boyscouting: Lewis Elmer Robinson
Lewis Elmer Robinson was a First in Black Boyscouting
Lewis Elmer Robinson, of Harrisburg, Pa, was a first in Black Boyscouting he broke the International Jamboree Color Line in 1933! The history of the Boy Scouts in America is apparently, hotly contested, when it comes to Firsts…some claim that the first African American Boy Scout Troops were formed in North Carolina, and others say that the first troop was formed in Tennessee.
First in Black Boyscouting: Lewis Elmer Robinson is the First African American to Attend an International Jamboree
I have had a particular interest in Boyscouting since my youth…I always wanted to be a Boy Scout! Unfortunately, for me, girls were not allowed to join the Boy Scouts during my youth. In fact the Boy Scouts of America only began allowing non-cis, other than hetero-normative males to join the Boy Scouts in the last handful of years…I tried the Girl Scouts for a few months in the 1980s, and it just didn’t seem the same.
My interest was initially sparked by my Grandfather, Roger Kenton Williams, who joined Harrisburg’s Troop #24 when he was in his youth. Troop #24 was an all-Black Boy Scout Troop that operated in Harrisburg, Pa. My Grandpa remained invested in his troop throughout his lifetime. The surviving members of his Troop attended his Memorial Service in Baltimore in 1989, and I remember meeting several of them there. He even designated a portion of his estate to the troop in his will!
Unbeknownst to me, his troopmaster is buried at Lincoln Cemetery, in Harrisburg! While researching the cemetery today I came across a photograph of the late Lewis Elmer Robinson in the Harrisburg Telegraph and began to do a bit more digging than I had done previously while researching my grandfather’s history… Lewis Elmer Robinson accompanied other (White) members of the Harrisburg Council to Hungary in August 1933.
Lewis Elmer Robinson Services Tomorrow
Services for Lewis E. Robinson, 51, first Negro in the United States to attend an international Boy Scout jamboree who died Friday, will be at 2 p. m. Tuesday at the Second Baptist Church, Sixth and Forster streets, the Rev. J. B. Williams, officiating. Burial will be in the Lincoln Cemetery. Friends may call at the Curtis funeral home, 1000 North Sixth street, 6 to 9 o’clock this evening.
He attended the jamboree in Budapest, Hungary, in 1933 with a number of Harrisburg Scouts.
He was a “key man,” the highest honor a scout master can obtain, and was a “silver beaver man,” another high honor in Boy Scout circles.
Trustees of Second Baptist Church of which he was a member will act as pallbearers. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Ella Robinson, a daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Russell, and two grandchildren, all of Harrisburg, and two sisters, Mrs. Bertha Alexander, Harrisburg, and Mrs. Edith Waters, Philadelphia.
1933 International Jamboree Map 
1933 International Jamboree Poster 
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BOY SCOUT 1933 WORLD JAMBOREE BROCHURE RABBI BOOKSTABER HARRISBURG COUNCILs l1600 
BOY SCOUT 1933 WORLD JAMBOREE BROCHURE RABBI BOOKSTABER HARRISBURG COUNCIL 5 
BOY SCOUT 1933 WORLD JAMBOREE BROCHURE RABBI BOOKSTABER HARRISBURG COUNCIL 4 
BOY SCOUT 1933 WORLD JAMBOREE BROCHURE RABBI BOOKSTABER HARRISBURG COUNCIL 3
In south central Pennsylvania, York may have established the first Black Troop. In fact, the York Black History website, features a photo from Troop No. 11 from 1919 (below or right)…But, Harrisburg had the first African American to attend the International Jamboree in the Nation!
Segregated Troops: The Ku Klux Klan in the History of Black Boyscouting
A July 9, 1924, story in The Evening Star newspaper tells of a group of 10 men in Philadelphia who dressed in hoods and robes and burned a cross to terrorize a Black Scout troop that was camping.
Despite the hostility, the BSA continued to reach more Black youth as councils hired Black field executives and began developing camps for Black troops. At the 1937 National Jamboree, Black troops from across the country attended. That same year, Black adult leaders attended the BSA’s national training school. By 1945, there were more than 3,500 Black troops nationwide and nearly 800 Black Cub Scout packs. (Freeman, 2021)
You are invited to share Your Family’s Scouting Legacy by emailing onscouting@scouting.org.
If you have any information, history, memories, photos or documents of the south central PA Black Boy Scout troops please comment below!
History isn’t real if it isn’t inclusive!
Learn More About Black Boy Scouts History
“4th World Scout Jamboree.” In Wikipedia, October 14, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=4th_World_Scout_Jamboree&oldid=1116031467.
History of Scouting in East Tennessee. “Black Scouting,” February 2, 2022. https://historyofscoutingeasttennessee.wordpress.com/category/black-scouting/.
eBay. “BOY SCOUT – 1933 WORLD JAMBOREE BROCHURE – RABBI BOOKSTABER – HARRISBURG COUNCIL.” Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.ebay.com/itm/234903985758.
Freeman, Michael. “Black Boy Scout Troops Joined in Scouting’s Earliest Days, Though the First Troop Is Difficult to Pinpoint.” Aaron On Scouting, February 23, 2021. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2021/02/23/black-boy-scout-troops-joined-in-scoutings-earliest-days-though-the-first-troop-is-difficult-to-pinpoint/.
Harris, Stanley A. “Negro Youth and Scouting, A Character Education Program.” The Journal of Negro Education 9, no. 3 (1940): 372–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/2292608.
Harrisburg Telegraph. “Honored Louis E. Robinson.” April 21, 1930. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119622691/honored-louis-e-robinson/.
JKIRK. “1919 Photo of Historic Boy Scout Troop #11 at the Devils Den on the Gettysburg Battlefield – York Black History.” Accessed February 24, 2023. http://yorkblackhistory.com/2017/02/06/1919-photo-of-historic-boy-scout-troop-11-at-the-devils-den-on-the-gettysburg-battlefield/.
———. “Other Photos of Historic Scout Troop #11 at Crispus Attucks Center – York Black History.” Accessed February 24, 2023. http://yorkblackhistory.com/2017/02/06/another-photo-of-historic-scout-troop-11-at-crispus-attucks-center-circa-1954/.
“Lewis Elmer Robinson (1889-1940) – Find a Grave…” Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/239882214/lewis-elmer-robinson.
Nelson, Zann. “Buried Truth: Black Scouting in America and Orange.” The Daily Progress, January 24, 2019. https://dailyprogress.com/community/orangenews/opinion/buried-truth-black-scouting-in-america-and-orange/article_96adec38-2a18-11e9-986d-d7532838bddc.html.
Harrisburg Telegraph. “Obituary For Lewis E. Robinson.” November 25, 1940. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/119623643/obituary-for-lewis-e-robinson/.
“Troop 23 Harrisburg.” Accessed February 24, 2023. https://www.troopwebhost.org/Troop23Harrisburg/?fbclid=IwAR1sCpxozhBgxKCPqWKCG6qhH0h6SoKS-Ml6lSm0FUPgNvFixCZTaGBOLDM.
Wendell, Bryan. “10 Black Leaders Who Got Their Start in Scouting.” Aaron On Scouting, February 11, 2016. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2016/02/11/10-black-leaders-who-got-their-start-in-scouting/.
———. “What Was the First Scout Troop in the United States? Here’s the Answer.” Aaron On Scouting, March 28, 2019. https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2019/03/28/what-was-the-first-troop-in-the-united-states-the-answer-isnt-so-simple/.
REsource. “Who Belongs in the Boy Scouts? Philanthropy’s Support for Black Scouting.” Accessed February 24, 2023. https://resource.rockarch.org/story/who-belongs-in-the-boy-scouts/.
Wright, Marian Thompson. “Negro Youth and the Federal Emergency Programs: CCC and NYA.” The Journal of Negro Education 9, no. 3 (July 1940): 397. https://doi.org/10.2307/2292611.
