Boy Scouts of America. Old Hickory Council.

The Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America grew from a single troop organized at Fairview Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., in 1911. The council operated Camp Raven Knob beginning in the 1950s.

From the description of Boy Scouts of America Old Hickory Council Records, 1912-2001. WorldCat record id: 31070165

The Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts of America began in 1911 on the initiative of Ralph B. Tucker, who moved to Winston-Salem from Pennsylvania. He became assistant scoutmaster at a troop formed at his church, Fairview Moravian Church. R. R. Kinney was the scoutmaster. Troop 1 was joined by at least 16 other troops by 1918. A second-class council was formed to organize scout troops in 1917. The first-class council was organized in 1919 and a full-time Scout executive, Roy C. Flanagan, was hired. In 1922, the Winston-Salem Community Chest (later the United Way of Forsyth County) was organized and began to handle annual fund campaigns. In 1928, the council expanded its initial base of Winston-Salem and its suburbs by adding Ashe, Watauga, Alleghany, Wilkes, Surry, Yadkin, and Forsyth counties. By 1929, there were 40 troops with 649 scouts. The first black troops were organized at Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem and registered in January 1934. Cub Pack 10 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church became the Council's first cub scout pack on 31 December 1936.

In June 1938 came the chartering of a lodge of the Order of the Arrow, a national brotherhood of honor campers who pledge themselves to the service of others. It adopted the name Wahissa Lodge.

In 1941, it was decided that the Council should contain five fully organized districts and expand the professional and office staffs in order to serve the seven-county area. A new name, "Old Hickory," was suggested in honor of former president Andrew Jackson who once practiced law in the area. Stokes County joined the Council in 1942.

The Council changed its constitution and bylaws to become racially integrated in the mid-1960s. Camp Robert Vaughn was opened in 1963 for black youth agencies by the United Way of Forsyth County, and the Council had 101 camper weeks there as opposed to 1,263 at Raven Knob.

The Council's articles of incorporation and bylaws were revised in the early 1970s to allow women and youth on the executive board. In 1974, Forsyth's two white districts and one black district were consolidated into the Daniel Boone District.

A $2 million capital campaign for improvements and new construction at Camp Raven Knob met its goal in 1989. At the end of 1988, the council had 263 units with 8,222 youth.

In 1994, the Wautauga and New River Districts were consolidated as Wautauga and Ashe counties became the Blue Ridge District. A $3.2 million capital campaign was completed in 1996 and construction began on a Scouting Center as well as projects at Raven Knob.

From the guide to the Boy Scouts of America. Old Hickory Council Records, 1912-2001, (Southern Historical Collection)