Making a Difference

Forest Witcraft was a college professor in Nebraska and Ohio, then co-chair of the Training Committee for Licking County Council in Newark, Ohio. During World War II he became a Scouting professional, first serving as the Assistant Scout Executive in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and then as Scout Executive of the Central South Dakota Council. After a few years at the Sommers Canoe Base in Minnesota, he became Managing Editor of Scouting magazine and served in that position from 1951 to 1958. After that, he became Resident Administrator of Salem College in Salem, WV where he died in 1967 at the age of 72.
His essay entitled “Within My Power” was first printed on page two of Scouting magazine in October 1950. It was re-printed after his death in the March 1968 edition.
Dr. Witcraft’s essay – especially the closing paragraph – has been re-printed and read by Scouters thousands of times since it first appeared. During the first years it was often attributed to “anonymous” as Witcraft himself kept a low profile and never insisted that he be given credit. My own first exposure to it was as part of the closing materials given to participants at Wood Badge SE-554 in 1991.
When I first made the decision to assemble my Scouting experiences and stories into this book, I made a list of preliminary titles that might be included. I had previously written some of the stories, and the titles for those were about half the list. For some reason, I included the title “Making a Difference,” even though I had no actual story to go with it.
Today is January 18, 2021 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. King on the third Monday in January as being that Monday nearest his birthday – January 15, 1929.
Dr. King was a Boy Scout. From age 11 to 13 he was registered as a member of Troop 151 in Atlanta, Georgia chartered by Ebenezer Baptist Church, now part of the MLK, Jr. National Historic Site. His father, Martin Luther King, Sr. was then Pastor of the church and the chartered organization representative of the troop. Paul Anderson is listed as Scoutmaster for the eight or nine boys on the 1941-1942 rosters.
I claim neither the knowledge nor the ability to add anything to the life story of Dr. King, Jr. and the incredible impact that he made on our country and my generation before his untimely assassination in 1968. Many others have done that and will continue to do so. I want to indulge in just a bit of speculation about another aspect of that life story.
I bet that Scoutmaster Paul Anderson would have told you that he was “not a Very Important Man.” I have no idea how much money was in his bank account, what sort of house he lived in, or which kind of car he drove, or for that matter, if he had a bank account, a house, or a car.
And yet, there is no doubt in my mind that he had at least some degree of influence on the life of a boy who would eventually be the leader of the civil rights movement in the United States and whose legacy we would celebrate each year on the third Monday of January.
It is an absolute truth that at least one of those boys who Mr. Anderson served was a “maker of history” and a “builder of tomorrow.” I hope that he lived to see his young Tenderfoot achieve that greatness.
It is tempting to end this story with that thought – the idea that perhaps one of the young men who I served during my years as Scoutmaster might one day make that sort of impact. And that something I did, or said, influenced the outcome. Yes, that would be tempting….
But I am compelled to pursue one other thought. One that I have come to believe is just as important, just as impactful, just as meaningful as those words of Dr. Witcraft. Here it is….
Scouting, Scouts, and Scouters have made a difference in ME.

Submitted by: Russell Smart of Greenville