Scouting Artifacts

a legacy to be shared

My Scouting Artifacts

Stewardship

The goal stated on my Home page has been accomplished, and it has been a meaningful part of my Scouting journey.

to give artifacts to individual Scouts, Scouters, Troops, Councils, and National Museums

  • Preserve scouting history for future generations
  • Provide resources for researchers and historians
  • Share the experience of scouting across different eras
  • Connect and share with fellow scouts and collectors
  • Share artifacts with scouts, troops, councils, and museums
  • Contribute to museum and archive collections

Along the way I met some special people and became aware of notable organizations, many of whom have become good stewards of artifacts and my collections. I thank them all for preserving and sharing this part of Scouting history for the future.

World Scouting Museum, Charleston, WV — Dr. Robert Lynn Horne, Executive Director and founder; Nicholli Matheny, Museum Curator

Unami Lodge History Committee – Rhys Wallace, Advisor

Scout Heritage Museum, Milwaukee, WI – Fred Mikolajewski, Chair

The High Falls District (Rochester, Brighton, Irondequoit in NY) in the Greater Finger Lakes Council. In the late 1970s, this was the Otetiana Council serving greater Rochester and Monroe County.

  • My Son’s Scout Years, 1978-1981 – collection of his Boy Scout artifacts and mine as a Scouter at that time. (The part of the collection related to Hands Across the Border went to the Scout Heritage Museum in Milwaukee.)
Artifacts mostly from my son’s Scout years in Brighton, NY near Rochester

Ten Mile River Scout Museum, Ten Mile River Scout Camps, Narrowsburg, NY – Greater New York Councils, Bill Mulrenin, Co-director

Preston and Avery Tyrrell, father and daughter Eagle Scouts

  • Resica Falls – staff pocket patch and a button patch for Eagle Scout Avery
  • 1956 Philmont Collection – Avery’s “favorite place on Earth, genuinely.”
  • Valley Forge Council history – A wonderful website of Preston’s with timeline starting before Scouting formed, then focuses on Valley Forge Council (now Cradle of Liberty) near Radnor, PA. where Avery became the 1st female Boy Scout in the council.

Oreland Troop 1 is one of the oldest troops in Pennsylvania, formed in 1917, S. Carpenter, Scoutmaster

This collection is for a priest and his three young boys as they pursue their Scouting journey.

  • My Cub Scout Years – Handbooks from the early 1950s along with my hat, neckerchief slide, membership and advancement cards.

Samuel, a young Scout in Brooklyn CT Troop 44

  • Samuel at Scout Camp – 1st year at June Norcross Webster Scout Reservation
  • After seeing Samuel on Facebook after his first summer camp experience, I sent him a variety of items meaningful to me from the 1950s.

a note from his parents: … Samuel started in Cub scouts in first grade and enjoyed the experience immensely. Crossing over into Boy Scouts this year and getting to attend summer camp this year has been even better than we could have imagined for him …

1950s artifacts from my Scouting years, starting a collection for Samuel

James “Jay” Bolen, former president of the Attakapas Council, historian, attorney, author

BSA Contingent patch to the 1957 Jubilee World Jamboree

Follow Me – The Adventures of Scouting in Central Louisiana 1912-2012: Building Character and Citizenship Training – a book authored by James Bolen, Jr. in 2026

Last Updated: August 18, 2026