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OA Oral History Project at Jamboree 2017

The Order of the Arrow and the National Scouting Museum’s Scouting Memories Project have partnered to jointly host the Jamboree 2017 Oral History Project.

Youth-focused and led by the four 2017 OA region chiefs, our group attracted great stories big and small, old and new. The stories that we captured were all significant, some told by Scouts or Scouters more well-known than others.

Our esteemed list of guests included: Ahmad Alhendawi, the World Organization of Scouting Movement’s secretary general; BSA Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh; BSA National Commissioner Charles Dahlquist II; National OA Chairman Mike Hoffman; National Venturing President Michelle Merritt; Sea Scouting National Boatswain Mercedes Matlock; and a host of national OA officers and jamboree vice chiefs.

Our youth interviewers had the opportunity to listen to many other stories from Scouts and Scouters from all walks of life and diverse demographics. Our aim was and will continue to be simple: to create a repository of personal histories that will provide a rich, living tapestry of Scouting history, and, in so doing, further the mission of historical discovery and understanding within local lodges and councils.

If you plan to attend the National Order of the Arrow Conference in 2018 and would like to be considered for an interview slot, please email oralhistory@oa-bsa.org.

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