CAMP HOWARD ADAIR
1945-1952
In 1944, the Council leased forty acres on Chickamauga Lake for "Camp Adair," a segregated Scout camp. The June 29, 1944 article reflects hope that the property would be ready for use that summer, but the July 27, 1944 article reports that summer camp would again be held at Camp Davis because the new camp was not yet ready.
The camp was located in or near Bartlebaugh, a neighborhood of Harrison, located on Chickamauga Lake just North of Booker T. Washington State Park. Even recently a Howard Adair Road existed in Bartlebaugh, Harrison, running parallel to the shore of the lake for a short distance, although the most current maps do not show a road by that name. It was north of Booker T. Washington State Park near Solitude Drive.
No memorabilia is known to exist.
WHO WAS HOWARD ADAIR?
Research into Howard Adair (the person) reveals that there are two likely individuals from whom the camp may have derived its name. One was a white Boy Scout, another was an African-American 2LT in the Army. The information pertaining to both of these individuals is presented below. Coincidentally, one's name was Richard Howard Adair, and the other was Howard Richard Adair.
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Richard Howard Adair (b. 1919 d. 1943)
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Howard Adair (b. Dec. 20, 1889) and Howard Adair, Jr. (b. approx. 1919) lived in Chattanooga in 1920. At the time, both of them listed their name as "Howard." Their race (as listed in the 1920 Chattanooga census) was "mulatto." In the 1930 census, both lived in together in Chattanooga, race listed as "black," and names listed as "Richard H. Adair." Howard Sr. was married to Ann or Anna (b. approx. 1896).
Richard Jr. enlisted as a private on May 23, 1941. He was commissioned as a "negro officer" in the Quartermaster School in 1943. Richard Jr. died in Nov. 5, 1943 and is buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. His headstone indicates is was a 2d Lieutenant in the "QM Corps" in WWII. Given that Camp Howard Adair (a segregated Scout camp for African-Americans) started in approximately 1944, this lends credence to the possibility that the camp was named in honor of the recently deceased African-American man.
Records indicate Richard Sr. passed away in 1938 and is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Section F Row 17 84.
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Negro Soldiers Among 1100 Commissioned at Quartermaster School
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Howard Richard Adair (b. 1906 d. 1939)
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A March 2, 1918 newspaper article mentions that "Warren, Arthur, and Howard Adair" were members of Chattanooga Troop 11 in East Lake. This was a white family, which included Howard Richard Adair who was born January 4, 1906.
Howard died June 13, 1939.
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March 2, 1918 - mention of "Warren, Arthur, and Howard Adair."
1923 Chattanooga High School Roster
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PHOTOS FROM CAMP HOWARD ADAIR
Location
Sources
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1944-06-29 - Camp Site Leased for Negro Scouts
1944-07-27 - Announcements
1945 Final Report of Charles Peacock
1947-07-25 - Boy Scout Camp Opens Sunday
1947-07-27 Chattanooga Daily Times ("Camp Howard Adair for Negro scouts opens July 27 for a two-week period, with Willie Hughes as camp director. New equipment as been secured and a new water purification system installed.")
1947-08-01 - Boy Scouts Movement Shows Growth in Area - Camp Howard Adair
1949-08-07 Chattanooga Daily Times ("[The Negro division has] Camp Howard Adair, a beautiful, although somewhat undeveloped, campsite located on Chickamauga Lake to be used by the 14 packs, 29 scout troops, and two senior units which come under their control. All that has been done so far in way of developing the camp is to sink a well, build around it an all-purpose house of concrete construction, and build a concrete latrine. There is a real need for waterfront equipment as well as portable floors for the tents.")
1950-02-12 Chattanooga Daily Times ("Camp Adair is a new camp that is now being developed by the Cherokee Council for service to the Negro youth of the area.")
June 17, 1951 - Photograph of scouts preparing to attend Camp Howard Adair
1950-06-11 - Scouts to Begin Outing at Camp Howard Adair
May 18, 1952 issue of the Chattanooga Daily Times, it was reported that Camp Howard Adair would open on July 6. The fee for the week was $8.
See also 1982 History of Scouting in the Cherokee Area Council.