Reginald Hascall Parsons (October 3, 1873 - June 9, 1955) was a
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
businessman and philanthropist during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born on
Long Island, New York and came west to Seattle with his family in 1904 to manage the Bemis Bag Company there.
Background
Parsons became the first president of the
Seattle Area Council of the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
in 1916 and held the position for five years. He donated to the Council the original plot of land on the
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,[Camp Parsons
Chief Seattle Council (originally called Seattle Area Council) is the local council governing the scouting activities of the Boy Scouts of America in a large part of the Puget Sound and Seattle area, including almost all of the Olympic Peninsula. ...]
(which opened in 1919). During the same time period (1916 - 1921), Parsons served in the
Seattle Chamber of Commerce
The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is a private, membership-based organization that represents economic development and the economic interests of its corporate members in the metro region of Seattle, Washington. Its members include most ...
. Parsons was later active on the National Board of the Boy Scouts of America and spent much of his time involved with several other organizations including the Seattle Social Welfare League, the Pacific Coast Defense League, the Seattle Community Chest,
Lakeside School, and the
National Chamber of Commerce.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Reginald
Businesspeople from Seattle
American philanthropists
1873 births
1955 deaths