African American Girl Scout Troop forms in 1960s

The Girl Scouts of America, founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Ga., has long been a beacon of empowerment and leadership for girls across the nation. Like many institutions in the early 20th century, the Girl Scouts grappled with the realities of segregation and the racial divide that marked American society. Fearing that an official position that included African American girls as scouts would make southern troops quit, Low left the decision up to state and local councils. 

By the early 1960s, the local Lewes Girl Scout troop still did not permit African American and Native American girls to participate. In 1963, wanting their daughters to have the same scouting experience as the other girls in Lewes, some local mothers, with assistance from the local Girl Scout troop, formed their own troop. 

Among the mothers who helped to organize and lead the troop were Shirley Daisey, Thelma Collick, Elizabeth “Lib” Stewart, Mae Ward and Delores Barrett.  The scout leaders would help the girls experience many of the same activities as the other Girl Scout troops did, including camping trips, sleepovers, roller skating, earning badges and even selling cookies. There appeared to be good bit of cooperation between the local Girl Scouts and the African American troop in terms of meeting spaces, group photos and coordination of some activities. At times, the African American troop would meet at Bethel United Methodist Church, the same location where the white Girl Scouts would meet.

By the late1960s, the local Lewes Girl Scouts were desegregated, and the African American troop was disbanded. Many of the leaders and scouts merged into the desegregated troop and remained active in the Girl Scouts for years to come. Shirley Daisey would stay active for more than 35 years, rising through the ranks of the Chesapeake Bay Girl Scout Council.

The Lewes African American Heritage Commission is currently attempting to gather more information and photos about this troop. In addition, the commission wants to organize a reunion or program with the women from the African American troop. Anyone not already contacted is asked to email daisey158@comcast.net.

Information gathered from Nancy Gooch Collick, Bill Collick, Kitty Perry, Helena “Fran” Stewart, Venita Thomas Young, Grace Gibbs, Deborah Daisey Street, Sarah Daisey Minor and Trina Brown-Hicks.