Leatrice Stern’s emotional state changes every four to eight paragraphs, from laughter to anger to sadness to joyfulness. But she never seems to stop talking while she tells her story. A story of nearly 100 years. Stern, 95, is a longtime McComb resident, living off of Wall Street, who made history as the first African American woman Girl Scout Leader in the state of Mississippi.

 On May 13, 2009, a day after her birthday, she shared her story with the Mississippi Tribune.

She was born May 12, 1914 in Grenada county Mississippi. She had 4 brothers and 1 sister that she knew of. Her mother died when she was 4 years old, on June 15, 1918. Her uncle became her guardian and she moved to Memphis, TN and then to Chicago, IL with her older sister. Eventually she moved to Freeport, IL.

In Chicago, she began attending high school. She played all sports, especially basketball. Her sister quit school to allow her to attend school. Stern told her sister that she had been approached by a girl’s gang to become a member. Her sister checked on it and discovered that there were both girl and boy gangs at that high school. She was told that she would be beaten up if she did not join the gang. Her sister called her aunt in Freeport, IL and they moved in with her.

She played sports in high school and worked as a babysitter and as a seamstress. She stopped participating in organized sports after she accidently knocked out another girl with a ball that she had thrown.

Harriet Varnado, 59 is a former Girl Scout and close friend of Stern. She set up the interview with the Mississippi Tribune. She said that she wanted to make sure that Stern received the recognition that she was due, while she was still living.

Varnado said that Stern’s Husband, Clarence Stern Sr. passed 23 years ago. She remembers that he worked with oil companies a long time ago. Stern first organized the girl scouts at Walker’s Chapel Free Will Baptist church. She said that they worked for two years to help build the brick building that housed the sanctuary of the church.

She said the Boys Scout for Blacks in McComb was first organized at Flowery Mount Baptist Church. Stern was a girl reserve for the Girls Scout before she came to McComb. She was able to mix with white kids in high school and go camping and do outdoor related activities. She said that many Blacks (“coloreds” is the word she used) could not afford the expense of the Boys and Girl Scouts.

She remembers organizing a Girl Scout group in Liberty. Stern said that white administrators and community leaders there had her group decertified because some people did not want them there.

Stern said that one of the mistakes she made a long time ago was her failure to make sure that her organizing efforts and the activities of the Girl Scouts was published in the news media. She said that she was never given credit for her organizing efforts over the years. Stern said that organizing credit was given to others, including a woman that was one of her troopers. It was nearly impossible to recognize Black people for the good things they did or accomplished back in those days.

Stern said she once taught her scouts a “flag program” that a local principal observed. She said that they were so impressed that the school tried to recruit her to have her Girl Scout program join or become part of the school. She taught her scouts many things that they had never heard of or seen before. Stern said her scouts have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, teachers and more, something that she is very proud of.

She said that a girl named Sherry, and 3 sisters, the Moore girls were some of her original Black Girl Scouts. Stern began training them, dressing them as scouts and taking them to camps. They began selling the famous Girl Scout cookies. They camped, fished, and played outdoor games. She struggle to find sponsors, but she had a lot of trouble in those days, because no one had heard of Girl Scouts. She supplied the troopers/scouts with books to educate them. She supplied them with their uniforms for all levels including the brownies and intermediates.

She said that her only son, Clarence Stern Jr., a former tennis and skiing instructor outside of Denver, Colorado, who she referred to only as Junior, left her with property in Las Vegas, NV in addition to the house in McComb. She also has 5 grandchildren, 2 girls and 3 boys, and 5 great grandchildren including 2 twin girls.

Junior and his mother had purchased a house in Las Vegas and they had moved there to live. She said that she was about to learn how to play golf. But, on a visit back to their home in McComb to get more of their belongings and handle some business, everything changed.

She talked about when Junior died: Around 6:00pm he came in the house from the ballpark in a hurry, sat on the sofa, and then a friend named Barbara came over to visit. Barbara was talking to Stern and she heard Junior say that his head was hurting. He got some cold water and went to his room to lie down. After Barbara left, Stern went to his room and saw that he had lain down without taking off his shoes. She touched him and spoke to him, but he didn’t move. After she called the ambulance, she came back to him and noticed he had vomit. It was chicken pie. “The ambulance arrived and the police. They thought that I was the one who had the medical emergency” she said as her eyes were tearing up.

Her son had died. She went into shock and she said that she has been sick ever since. Stern said that she still has feelings of anger about how her son was treated medically, surrounding his death.

When asked if she could give someone else advice about living a long life, she responded: “My mother died when I was very young. And my son died before me. I asked why didn’t God take me before he took my son? My answer is that I feel that God still has some more for me to do.” She said, “If I could teach anything, I would teach a lot of these young people how to respect their elders. And, how to speak to adults.”