Josephine Holloway
Josephine Holloway was one of Girl Scouts' first African American troop leaders. After graduating from Fisk University in 1923, she began working with girls at the Bethlehem Center, a family resource center in Nashville, Tennessee, where she was able to bring Girl Scout inspired activities to more than 300 girls. In 1924, she attended the Southern Education Conference in Scouting and completed a full training session with Girl Scouts’ founder Juliette Gordon Low. In 1933, she applied to start a Girl Scout Troop, but was blocked by the Nashville area council. She continued to run an “unofficial” troop and persisted for council recognition. With her advocacy, she started the region's first African American Girl Scout troop in 1942. Within a year, thirteen new troops of African American girls formed. Because of her revolutionary work in Nashville, Holloway was hired by Girl Scouts of the USA as a field advisor for African American troops until her retirement in 1963. She continued her life of service, and during the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, was honored with the “Hidden Heroine” award. Read more about Josephine Holloway.
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