Museum exhibit commemorates Scouting's highest honor

RALEIGH -- It's the highest rank a Boy Scout can earn. Still, the notion of an entire N.C. Museum of History exhibit on Eagle Scouts in North Carolina may seem a little puzzling.

At least until you reach the case containing brief biographies of some prominent North Carolinians who earned the rank of Eagle.

Among them: former state Supreme Court Justice I.Beverly Lake; former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot;current UNC System President Tom Ross; Waste Industries founder and philanthropist Lonnie Poole; former Raleigh Mayor Tom Fetzer; and former governor and U.S. Sen. Terry Sanford, whose identity was so tied to being an Eagle Scout that it's the first accomplishment mentioned on the historical marker near his childhood home in Laurinburg.

"I think it's pretty clear that Eagle Scouts really are an important part of this state's history," said Parks Newby, an adult Scout volunteer from Raleigh - and an Eagle - who helped organize the exhibit.

The exhibit formally opened Monday, capping a half-day of Eagle-focused events marking the centennial of the nation's first Scout to earn the honor, including a formal Gathering of Eagles at the state legislature.

There, several Eagles, including Ross, Lake and Vinroot, spoke about how earning that rank helped set the standards for what they would achieve later.

The keynote speaker was himself almost as old as the honor: attorney Robert Dick Douglas Jr. of Greensboro, who will turn 100 years old this year and is believed to be the oldest living Eagle in the state.

Douglas earned the rank in 1926, and the next year was picked in a national Scout contest to travel with two other Scouts to Africa. The trio wrote a book on the experience that sold more than 400,000 copies.

Back then the royalties, modest as they were from a $1.75 book and split three ways, were enough to pay for his college, Douglas said in an interview.

After Africa, he went on an expedition in Alaska and in 1929 wrote "A Boy Scout in Grizzly Country."

Later he returned to Alaska with an expert on volcanoes and wrote about that, too.

Scouting, he said, has given his long life a solid framework.

"It gave me a program to concentrate on," he said. "The Boy Scout program is broad enough to meet the notions of any boy, and for me, if I was interested in athletics, I could focus on that. Then if I was interested in bird studies, I could do that.

"It filled my life with the right things," he said.

The museum exhibit includes two of his books and is expected to soon feature video of him talking about life and Scouting.

The host for Monday's events was Parks Newby's brother, N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Paul Newby, also an Eagle Scout.

About 5 percent of all Scouts attain Eagle rank, afamously rigorous journey that requires earning at least 21 merit badges in areas such as first aid, citizenship, physical fitness, environmental science and family life.

It also requires creating and leading a significant community service project, serving in a Scouting leadership role, demonstrating adherence to Scouting guidelines andvalues, and gaining theapproval of a review board.

The Eagle Scout exhibit is expected to remain at the history museum until at least May.