PASSING THE TORCH

Girl Scout Troop #60022, led by Erika Towles, presenting The Journal of Negro History on behalf of St. Peter Claver Catholic School to Muriel Jackson of Washington Memorial Library on January 18, 2022

In 1970, public libraries stopped delivering books to local schools. So our school had to establish a library. Circa 1970, St Peter Claver Parish sponsored Girl Scout Troop #281 (led by parishioner Mrs. W. Thomas) donated a beautifully bound collection of The Journal of Negro History to kickstart this library build-out project. 

The Journal was established by Carter G. Woodson, the Father of African American history. From its inception in 1916, and for long afterwards, this journal was one of the only publications that would accept Black scholarship and articles for publication. This was a very important gift to the school. 

Thankfully, today, our students have wide access to culturally sound education and history resources so we thought it time to ensure that our wider community has proper access to this beautiful historic resource. 

St Peter Claver alumna, Ms. Muriel Jackson, herself a girl scout at one time, and the Head of Genealogy at the Washington Memorial Library, accepted donation of the collection on behalf of the Washington Memorial Library at a presentation on January 18, 2022.

The collection was presented to the Library on behalf of our school by St. Peter Claver’s current Girl Scout Troop #60022, led by Ms. Erika Towles, also an alumna. 

We had a happy afternoon at the Library celebrating Black history, and especially Black Girl Scout history.  We want to thank everyone involved for helping us pass the torch and making sure our history remains appreciated (and accessible) in our community.

Check in with Muriel anytime you’d like to see this resource.

Her Legacy II (c) Kafia Haile