Linebaugh library is pleased to host Grady Eades on Thursday, June 2, at 7 p.m. for a presentation on his historical research of the Boxwell Reservation. The camp celebrated its Centennial in 2021 and Eades’ work details the evolution of the camp and its program from its inception as small local camp in Linton, Tennessee to its current location and program today.
Eades’ book, For the Good of the Program: A Century of Middle Tennessee Scouting at Boxwell, 1921-2021, explores the history of Scouting in the middle Tennessee area over the last hundred years. The book argues that as society and Scouting have changed, so too has the program delivered at the local Scout Council's summer camp. And the changes have been enormous. In its earliest days, summer camp was seen as a vehicle for building citizens from the youth. Democratically elected Scout representatives had a camp council that made the rules for the camp, training them for adulthood. As time went on, an emphasis on fatherhood and family developed. The way meals were delivered changed to focus on family values and manners. Individual achievement and advancement became more important than working in groups. As the social tapestry of the nation became more diverse, so too did Scouting and who the program served.
For the Good of the Program is based on several years of research. It builds upon a century of newspaper articles and hours of personal interviews as well as the Council's own records. It looks at how Camp Boxwell became Boxwell Reservation, the leaders who ran the camp in its different incarnations, and how the program transformed over the decades. It includes some big fish stories from former camp staff as well as explores some necessary rabbit holes, such as how Boy Scouts handled segregation and homosexuality both at the camp and in policy. It is the first book written on the Boy Scouts' summer camp program in Tennessee and only the second on middle Tennessee Scouting in general.
Grady Eades is an Associate Professor of History at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, TN. He will have copies of For the Good of the Program available for sale at the event. Paperback copies will be $30 and hardback copies will be $35. Cash, check, and credit will be accepted as payment.
“Many Rutherford County residents have personal history and stories from Camp Boxwell,” says Linebaugh Branch Manager Carol Ghattas. “Grady Eades’ talk on the history of the camping program there will be of great interest to many scouts in our area.” This event is free and open to the public in the Linebaugh Conference Room.