Boy Scout Troop 6

In 1924, Troop 6, the first African American Boy Scout Troop, was organized with John D. Stevenson serving as the first scoutmaster. Admission to several of the Beloit’s clubs and organizations were closed to African Americans, one of many discrimination practices faced by those families that had migrated from the south. Fairbanks Morse & Company, who had recruited a good number of African American workers, knew that the city of Beloit hadn’t embraced the new workers with welcomed arms. Thus, Fairbanks assisted in establishing social outlets for African Americans, the boy scout included. The charter members of Boy Scout Troop 6 were brothers Joe, Bennie and Kennie Gordon, John Earl Wilson, James Hyde, Jimmie Dent, John Watts, William Weems, James Stevens, Charles Hobson, William Conwell and Gene Hill.  
The newly formed troop committee was comprised of James Gordon, Lawrence Ousley and Leon Peterson. Scoutmaster Stevenson expected Troop 6 to be impeccable, insisting that complete uniforms were worn and their equipment was always in tip top shape when in use. When Troop 6 marched in the Memorial Day parade they proudly stood out amongst all the troops.

Pictured below are charter scouts left to right; John Earl Wilson, Kennie Gordon, Bennie Gordon and Joe Gordon, 1924.