Reginald Hascall Parsons (October 3, 1873 - June 9, 1955) was a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

businessman and philanthropist during the first half of the twentieth century. He was born on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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 Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the county ...

of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

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-like body of water that lies south of Admiralty Inlet in Washington State that some consider to be the western lobe and one of the five main basins of Puget Sound.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