Finding historical records that definitively prove who the first black Eagle Scout was is not an easy task because of the time that has passed since the early days of Scouting in the USA. They didn’t have cloud backups and digital copies then. It was all on paper in a filing cabinet somewhere.
Up until February of 2021, it was believed that Harry Cooper of Troop 92 in Kansas City, Missouri was the first black Eagle Scout, earning Eagle in September of 1920. Scouting Magizine published an article about Harry and just one month later published another article about a young black man from Rome, New York who had earned Eagle Scout nine months earlier in December 1919, Hamilton Bradley.
There is extensive documentation in newspapers of the time like the Rome Sentinel and publications from the Rome Council, BSA that support the date of the award. You will find an interesting artcle written by Bradley about his involvement in the Eastern States Exposition in Springfield, MA.
Rather than attempting to recreate the text from the articles of the day, I invite you to follow the links above to read about this extroardinary young man. Also, while not the first, you may want to read about these other distinguished young men who achieved the pinnacle of Scouting achievement:
- Harry Cooper of Troop 92 in Missouri
- Edgar V Cunningham of Troop 12 in Waterloo, Iowa.
- 10 other Black leaders who got their start in BSA.
