The Centenary Journey to Big Sandy

Hi Girl Scouts,

It has been a while since I've had a chance to write. I've been on an amazing two month Centenary Journey. I've made stops to meet up with Girl Scout friends, old and new, in British Columbia in Canada, Scotland, and in the United States: Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri and, of course, Arkansas. Over the next few weeks, I'll share some of the things I did and wish I could hear how your Centenary adventures have progressed.

My 2012 Centenary Map

Many places I visited on this trip were some of my favourite campsites. Camping and outdoor activities have always been a very important part of Girl Scouting. Baden-Powell, Juliette Low's mentor, said it was critical for young people to get away from the pressures of our every-day life and learn to take care of ourselves in a rural environment such as a camp. At camp, we have to take care of our own entertainment, safety and meet our own needs with respect to shelter and food. As youngsters, we don't often get to be in charge of these things...at camp, we do!

Juliette Low's first Girl Scouts didn't camp overnight as much as their British Guide sisters in the beginning. There are several reasons for that but one reason might have been that the Savannah area had some scary wildlife in the woods. Instead, the girls often took nature walks and had outdoor activities like cookouts that gave them some experience at taking care of themselves. Just like you and me, they had favorite places to go for their outdoor adventures. Juliette Low had a shelter built on a piece of woodland property not far from the First Headquarters where the girls could work on outdoor cooking and learning woodcraft.

Girl Scouts cooking outdoors (circa 1917)

Do you have a favorite place to get outdoors with your patrol? A place to have a cookout or overnight camping?

When I visited some Girl Scout friends in my old council in California, we checked out some of our former camping places. Most of them are no longer owned by the Girl Scouts so we had to get special permission to visit. But everyone was very helpful and we shared a lot of our memories with the new owners.

One campsite we visited, however, made us cringe. It must have been the worst campsite in the world! It was called....

BIG SANDY

In 1968, the local Mariner Scouts invited all Cadette troops to come to their annual Gam at their favorite campsite, Big Sandy. Well, we LOVED to camp so signed up to go.

My troop arrived at Big Sandy having never heard of Mariners or Gams. By the end of that camp, we learned a lot and had the best time with our seafaring sisters. We went sailing in the harbor, learned about surviving a shipwreck, first aid at sea, that driftwood made the best art and campfires ever! What we didn't learn was how to avoid getting sand in our food, our sleeping bags, our clothes and EVERYWHERE!!

Trailblazer 

Mariner

Panorama

 DID YOU KNOW: In the old program, Senior Girl Scouts could specialize in an area of interest. Many of their activities focused on that area. There were nine interest areas:

• Trailblazers who liked to camp, backpack and mountaineering,
• Mariners who liked water sports such as sailing and swimming,
• International Friendship who worked with Guides and Scouts around the world and participated in international events
• Wing who were interested in flying
• Mounted units worked with horses
• Arts investigated all manner of expression from Drama to Photography
• Homemakers focused on skills around home and family such as cooking, child care, and home repairs.
• Panorama troops did a bit of everything.

At a 2012 Girl Scout Gam

DID YOU KNOW: A Gam is a social gathering of mariners. Senior Girl Scout troops specialized in seafaring skills like sailing, were called Mariner Scouts. They call their big gatherings were called Gams. Mariner Scouts often competed in sailing races and are often given access to boats of various kinds. There are still groups of Scouts and Guides that specialize in these activities.

On our 2012 Centenary Journey, we visited Big Sandy once again and remembered the challenges and the wonderful time we had. We cooked sandy hot dogs on a driftwood fire and built a small wooden boat with a candle to send out to sea with our thanks to the Mariner friends who shared their own brand of Girl Scouting with us. 

THE BIG SING!

Wow! Girl Scouts! I've just returned from the second of my Centenary Events. The BIG SING in Washington, DC! And, guess what! There were girls from YOUR Council there! They were from Van Buren, Arkansas,With their Leader Madeline Marquette. I never had a chance to meet up with them but I was very pleased to know that they were there among the quarter of a million Girl Scouts who joined us on that VERY hot day.

DC Fire Department provides water fun for the Girl Scouts

That's right! 250,000 Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts now hold several new Guiness World Records:

            1. Largest gathering of Girl Scouts in the world.

            2. Largest Flash Mob to dance.

            3. Largest group sing EVER!

There are several You Tube posts from the event including this one supplied by Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital:  

GSCNC Rocks the Mall!

We met Girl Scouts from across the United States including California, Nevada, Washington, Kansas, Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts. We also had the pleasure of Canadian Girl Guides staying with us.

Can you find us in the picture?

Other great parts of the day included:

A new issue stamp honoring our Centenary entitled 'Celebrate Scouting Forever.' I like that idea!

The Smithsonian opened exhibits and activities for Girl Scouts to explore from home and while visiting the city. (Here is the Smithsonian's link: Girl Scouts Centenary Activities from the Smithsonian Institute

We played in the water courtesy DC Fire Department.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE adventures: Play the online game (with APPS!) to save the future by knowing the past! Agent of Change is a collaboration (joint venture) between the National Archives in Washington, DC, and GSUSA. You can play. too. Get started here: Be an agent of change!

Hard Rock Cafe made lunches for us with an special set of pins designed by girls.

We danced and sang and made new friends!

(Note: Thanks to the Washington Post for many of these pictures.)

Centenary Celebrations

                        Two years ago, I enjoyed participating in the Centenary Celebrations (100th Birthday) of the British Girl Guides.  But in my heart, I continued to look forward to my own American Girl Scout Centenary in 2012.

I’ve picked a few things that I want to do to be part of the Centenary Celebrations and thought I would share them with you:

1. This blog -

When my former Council proposed this idea, I was very excited! What a great way to share the things I’ve learned with my sisters in Guiding and Scouting while reflecting on the journey we’ve travelled as an organization. Sharing this with you kicked off my personal Centenary Celebration and it will close out the year as well.

2. Visit my former Councils -

Girl Scouts - Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas is first on the list. I hear there is a reunion this summer for participants of the WS/AOK link (West Sussex, England/Arkansas and Oklahoma) established through the legacy Council of Mt Magazine...the link that would eventually lead me to my life in Britain. I am looking forward to attending to meet old friends and new at Kelly Cabin.

Tres Condados legacy Council, now Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast, was where I grew up as a Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior Scout. I went to summer camp each year at Camp Tecuya. That is really the place I learned about international sisterhood (we had counsellors join us from other countries every summer), self-reliance, and singing. I look forward to visiting there in August as well.

3. Rock the Mall in Washington, DC -

Nation’s Capital Girl Scout Council sponsored a BIG SING this month. I picked this event to attend because it has grown to international proportions and I wanted to participate in a nation-wide celebration. It will be inter-generational, too, with daughters, mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers who are all Girl Scouts attending together!  AND the songs we will sing- many old and new favorites!

           Did you know that singing was part of the original Laws that Baden-Powell set down for girls?
                                  He wrote, "Scouts whistle and Guides sing!"

If you haven't started your own Centenary Celebrations, start thinking of what you want to do to mark this event. It might include a few of the following:

• Read and share this blog.

• Talk to your mom or grandmother about her experiences with Girl Scouts. See what was the same (new friends, loved camping and singing) and different (wearing dresses to camp, camp uniforms of white shirts and knee socks with flashes).

• Do a meeting on Girl Scout history and dress as different characters from our history.

• With your patrol or troop, try a badge from your mom or your grandmother's handbook.

• Attend a Centenary event in your Council or another Council.

What other ideas can you think of?

What did we do before Our Chalet?

 Greetings Girl Scouts!

Many of us grow up in Girl Scouts knowing that we are a world-wide movement with several international homes we call the World Centers. Visiting the World Centers, we can experience international friendships with other Scouts and Guides. These international Guiding/Scouting homes include Our Chalet in Switzerland, Pax Lodge in England, Our Cabana in Mexico and Sangam in India.  (Do you know which is the newest World Center? It may surprise you)

Our Chalet, Switzerland

Did you know: Our Chalet was the first World Center (1932), a gift to Guides and Scouts around the world from American Girl Scout Helen Storrow. No wonder she was called "a world-minded sort of woman" by English Guider Katherine Furse . Mrs Storrow organized and supported training centers at Foxlease in England and Pine Tree Camp in the United States as well as Our Chalet.

My journey to England started with dreams of visiting a World Center. But what did Guides and Scouts do before there was a World Centre? Where did they go to learn how to be Girl Scouts or Guides?

They went to Foxlease, the first home of Guiding and Scouting. It is in the New Forest area in the south of England.  (Google "Foxlease, Girl Guides" or for a map look at Lyndhurst in the New Forest)

In many ways, we should think of Foxlease as our FIRST World Center.

Princess Margaret House at Foxlease

With Girl Scouting and Guiding growing around the world, more and more members wanted training on skills needed to be a Girl Guide or Girl Scout. Since it all began in England, the world looked to England for training.

In 1922, an American heiress made a generous offer to the Girl Guides.  Ann Archbold Saunderson offered her Georgian manor house and 65 acres of land to the Girl Guides. Princess Mary, the President of the Girl Guides, endowed the property; that is, she gave enough money to support the property so the Girl Guides could afford the upkeep. It became the first international home of Guiding and Girl Scouting.

The first Guider in Charge at Foxlease, Alice Behrens, set out to make Foxlease a beacon to follow for all the Guides and Scouts of the world, a haven and a source of strength. A place for Guides and Girl Scouts to call home. She set its motto: Peace, Vision, and Power...a motto that still stands relevant today.

Our Juliette Low stayed there many times and loved Foxlease dearly. She outfitted a cottage on the property where she and other American leaders stayed when they visited Foxlease. Juliette Low's British Guides called her cottage "The Link" because Juliette Low was the link between the British Guides and their American sisters.

Did You know: At first, the Guides wanted to name The Link after Juliette Low but she said no, wanting something less focused on herself and more focused on her Girl Scouting and Guiding girls. That is when the girls decided it should be called The Link, still in her honor but respecting her wishes to remember the two branches of the Guide/Scout Movement she loved. Today, the cottage is gone but its former site is a campsite on the Foxlease estate. It is surrounded by several American trees transplanted by the American visitors. It is still called The Link.

The patch for the World Camp at Foxlease, 1999

Foxlease continues to be a retreat that welcomes Guides and Scouts from around the world to come for a visit. You can stay in the house or camp out in The Link field. They also offer summer jobs to High School and College aged Guides and Scouts from around the world. This year when I went there for a 4^th of July campout, I met a Girl Scout from Arkansas who was working there as a House Assistant for the summer. We had great fun talking about our homes!

Did you know: Juliette Low, Ann Archbold Saunderson and Helen Storrow weren't the only Americans that supported Foxlease. Senator and Mrs William Clark (Montana) outfitted the Garden Room (now the dining room in Princess Mary House at Foxlease) in honor of their daughter, Andree Clark. The Girl Scouts of Massachusetts have a long, close bond with Foxlease and still sponsor one of the bedrooms (The Massachusetts Room). I understand the Girl Scouts of Texas have recently offered to sponsor a bedroom, as well.

Since 1922, the Girl Guides have offered trainings and events to their sisters around the world at Foxlease. They us offer a place to meet Guides and Scouts from around the world. There have been two World Camps (1922 and 1999) hosted at Foxlease. It has been a shelter for Guide and Scout families and other refugees during the World Wars.  Guides and Scouts from around the world will find they have a home at Foxlease, including Girl Scouts from Arkansans, Oklahomans and Texans like you and me, a place to play, rest and live the history of the Girl Scouts and Guides. C'mon, I'll meet you in The Link field for a campfire.

Great Leaders means Great Volunteers

Great Leaders of Yesterday

Hi Girl Scouts!

I mentioned that there were many little groups of Girl Scouts started in local areas but eventually, most of them joined Juliette Low's Girl Scouts soon after they began in 1912. The reason for this is that Juliette Low thought BIG! Nationally! That's why she asked Edith Johnston, our National Secretary at the time, to leave Savannah, Georgia and move the Girl Scout headquarters to Washington, DC...and then on to New York. She meant to recruit girls and volunteers nationally and the best place to start was in our nation's capitol.

Most of us think of Juliette Low as a great organizer but do you know what I think her greatest talent was? It was recruiting great volunteers. Juliette Low was the very best at this... She was able to recruit and inspire women who thought about how to empower girls and committed themselves to making it happen.

Though all the women Juliette Low recruited at first said they were way too busy. In truth, they were all in great demand by many charitable organizations but  Juliette Low had a way of not taking 'No' for an answer. Soon, the women she recruited were not just helping with Girl Scouts...they became Girl Scouts themselves!

With respect to great volunteers, some things never change! The organization continues to muster the best volunteers and our volunteers bring out the best in Girl Scouting to this day. Even better, we encourage our girls to grow up into leaders and volunteers themselves!

Some of Juliette Low's most important recruits included:

Edith Johnston, our first Executive Secretary who helped supervised our Girl Scout headquarters' move to Washington, DC, where it was able to grow into a nationally minded organization.

Helen Storrow, our first trainer and the benefactor of Our Chalet.

Jane Deeter Rippen, one of our first National Directors and great philanthropist. 

Ann Hyde Choate, second National President and who, with Jane Deeter Rippen and Lou Hoover oversaw the transition of Juliette Low's Girl Scouts into the modern national organization we are today.

Lou Henry Hoover, a First Lady (wife of President Herbert Hoover) and a very active  National President of the Girl Scouts who promoted volunteerism in a weekly radio broadcast.

Lou Hoover, First Lady and Girl Scout

Together, these volunteers gave Girl Scouts the firm foundation and philosophy that has sustained  our Movement through the first hundred years. Among us are the volunteers and girls who will keep Girl Scouts relevant for the next hundred years.

Ann Hyde Choate

Did you know? When Juliette Low stepped down as the Founding President, the team of Jane Deeter Rippen and Ann Hyde Choate led the second generation of Girl Scouts. They shaped our Girl Scouts into the forward thinking organization it is today while uniting all the small groups of Girl Scouts that started in 1910 into a single national Movement. They built a strong bond with the British and European Guides and Scouts, taking an active role in forming of World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Our great leaders of today AND tomorrow...

YGGGS!

Dr D-

From many Girl Scout groups to one...

1910 illustration of American Girl Scouts by Adelia Beard.

Greetings Girl Scouts from Washington!

I'm visiting family in the lovely state of Washington on the northwest coast of the United States this week.

Washington state has a long history in Girl Scouting, too. As early as 1910, (yes, two years before Juliette Low returned to start her Savannah Girl Scouts!) there were Scouting groups for girls appearing all over the United States. Two of the earliest Scout groups for girls were formed by Presbyterian minister David Perry in Yakima and Spokane, Washington after he returned from a visit to England where he met the Girl Guides who impressed him greatly with their community service.

In another part of Washington, Aileen Miller organized girls into Scout groups without even realizing Reverend Perry was doing the same on the other side of the Cascade Mountains! Mrs Miller started her group of Girl Scouts after seeing the local Boy Scouts performing services to her community.

In fact, there were independent groups of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts forming all over the USA during the years of 1910-1912. Here are a few others we know about:

•        Miss Lena Beard, New York, along with her sister, Adelia, did a series of lectures in 1910 about her Girl Scouts of America.
•        Reverend E. C. Fintel, Des Moines, Iowa, organized the Ashbury Girl Scouts in 1910 after seeing the Girl Guides on his trip to England.
•        Clara Lisetor-Lane, also Des Moines, Iowa, inspired by Dr Perry Powell's Boy Scouts, started a group called Girl Scouts of America.

Did you know? The Beards were a family famous for work with young people in the early 20th Century. Lina and her sister Adelia Belle Beard wrote many good books for pioneering girls. Their brother, Dan Beard, played a key role in forming the Boy Scouts of America. The Beard sisters books have recently been republished in the years 2006-2009 (see American Girls Handy Book: How to Amuse Yourself and Others and On the Trail: An Outdoor Book for Girls) Both books are available as free ebooks  from Project Gutenberg. Check out On the Trail: An Outdoor Book for Girls.

So, from the very beginning, everyone thought it would be great to have Girl Scouts and so many groups started independently and locally. You may ask, how did Juliette Low's Girl Scouts that started two years later become the main organization? It is a good and important question. I'll see if I can answer that for you later today.

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

In honor of our birthday, I thought I would share excerpt from my book that tells how Page Anderson learned that she would became one of the first Girl Scouts in Savannah... in her own words:

In March 1912, twelve-year-old Page Anderson of Savannah, Georgia, joined her mother and grandmother as they served tea to their guest, Mrs. Juliette Low. Page watched as Low enthusiastically tried to tie knots in a piece of leather she carried with her and listened with polite interest as “Mrs. Low explained that the Girl Guides in England under Lady [Agnes] Baden-Powell were learning what their brothers in [Scouts]

had been taught by Sir Robert”.

Page recalled, “The next day in the churchyard Mrs. Low buttonholed my mother and said ‘Now look here... I intend to start the Girl Guides in this country and I want you to be the first Captain and get Page and her friends to make up your Troop.”

 Page’s mother agreed. After all, Juliette Low “was a Gordon...and didn’t take no for an answer.”

from Oceans Apart:  American Girl Guides 1912 - 1915

- Dr Deborah Lafferty

Page Anderson became a member of the White Roses, who first met on 12 March 1912. Her mother became her leader (called a Captain in those days).

Did you know? There was a film documentary made in the 1984 with the surviving members of those first patrols. In their interviews, they told all about the first meeting and the things they did when they became Girl Scouts.

Why March 12th? In the documentary, charter member Marion Corbin Aslakson explained the date was chosen because it was the tenth birthday of Florence Crane, niece and ward of Nina Pape, Juliette Low's cousin. To be a Girl Guide in those days, you had to be 10 years old to join and Miss Pape wanted her niece to be a part of it all so they set the date so she could.

Article about Marion Corbin Aslakson

Member of the White Rose Troop, 1912

The early Girl Scout troops were only the size of our patrols, six to eight girls. As it turns out, it was the perfect size to play the new game that was all the rage for girls in 1912: Basketball!

Juliette Low had a basketball court set up near the girl's meeting place, complete with a curtain around the fenced sides to preserve the girls' modesty.

Girl Scout First Headquarters

Savannah, Georgia

Juliette Low soon had to return to England but she left the girls in the capable hands of Edith Johnston. It was Mrs Johnston's idea to organize a basketball league and tournament for the Girl Scouts. The prize was a small trophy cup. The girls were very enthusiastic and started recruiting the best players around Savannah to be in their troop so they could win. The Savannah newspapers reported every game and kept tally of the top teams. The best part of the basketball tournament was that the numbers of girls joining started growing very fast.

1912 girls' basketball team

By the way, it was the Red Rose Troop who won the basketball tournament with the Forget-Me-Not Troop coming in a close second.

World Thinking Day

Happy Thinking Day, Girl Scouts!

I've been away for awhile and haven't had the chance to blog but I certainly didn't want to miss World Thinking Day. After all, it is the day we Scouts and Guides around the world think of our brothers and sisters in the Scout and Guide Movement.

In 1926, Juliette Low's dream of having a World Conference for Guides and Scouts in America came true. It was at that 1926 Conference that International Delegates decided to set a day aside each year for Girl Scouts and Guides around the world to think of one another and to appreciate their sisters around the world.

1926 International Delegates with Lord and Lady Baden Powell, Juliette Low and Ann Hyde Choate(?)

Did you know: The 1926 World Conference was held at the new Edith Macy facility in New York. Construction was barely finished but Juliette Low was determined that it would be ready to host Delegates from around the world...and, as always, she found a way to make it happen.

We often celebrate Thinking Day by picking a country that has Girl Scouts or Guides and learning about them in our meetings. We sing songs and try foods from that country. We make costumes and uniforms from that country. If we are lucky, we exchange letters, emails or postcards with Guides and Scouts from other countries.

Westminster Abbey, London

One of my favorite Thinking Day celebrations was in 1996 when I was invited to attend the Scout and Guide Thinking Day Service at Westminster Abbey in London. The great Cathedral was filled with members from around the world. In fact, we filled three venues and sang many Guide and Scout songs that everyone knew no matter where we lived. A special wreath was placed at the commemorative plaque honoring Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. Everywhere I went in London that day, I met Girl Scouts and Guides. It was wonderful.

Picture of B-P's Westminster Plaque taken by James G. Howes

Did you know? The day the World Conference delegates chose for the new Thinking Day was February 22. This was the joint birthdays of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. Remember, Lord Baden-Powell, or B-P, was the founder of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides and the good friend of Juliette Low's who helped her start her American Girl Scouts.

This year, I will have a quieter Thinking Day, thinking of each of you in my native country and thinking of our Brownies and Guides here locally...oh, and writing a short blog all about Thinking Day!

How are you spending Thinking Day?

YiGGGS,

Dr D-

Before there were American Girl Scouts...

Hi Girl Scouts!

It is a bright sunny day in the South of England today. My first post will introduce you to Juliette Low's work with the Girl Guides, the British equivalent to the Girl Scouts, and two of the people that helped Juliette Low make American Girl Scouts possible. We don't hear a lot about them these days but they were very important friends of Juliette Low and taught her how to be a Girl Scout.

The Girl Guides, organized in 1910 in the UK, were the sister movement to the Boy Scouts and the idea of Sir Robert Baden-Powell. His sister, Agnes Baden-Powell, was the first President of the Girl Guides, and wrote the Girl Guide handbook with her brother.

Did you know? Guides and Scouts around the world call Sir Robert Baden-Powell, 'B-P' or 'The Chief'. He is dearly loved and Thinking Day is set on his birthday to honor him.

Robert Baden-Powell with Juliette Low

The Baden-Powells though Juliette Low would be a great help for the Girl Guides and in 1911 convinced her to join them. They were right! She organized Companies of Girl Guides in Scotland, England and the United States. She also recruited some of their best volunteers for them, including Rose Kerr who wrote several books about the history of Girl Guiding. Rose Kerr mentions her friend, Juliette Low, in all of her books.

Did you know? In the beginning, no one wanted to help Agnes Baden-Powell with her Girl Guides. People thought it was scandalous to let girls romp around in the woods and compete with the boys. But she never gave up on the girls. We owe Miss Baden-Powell a lot for believing in girls enough to keep going on her own.

Agnes Baden-Powell with her Girl Guides

Juliette Low first worked with Guides in Scotland and is remembered there as the first to organize a Guide Company in Perthshire. She later became a Guide Commissioner for London. While she was still a Commissioner in London, she decided to start Guide patrols in Savannah.

Did you know? Juliette Low's Girl Scouts were first organized as part of the British Girl Guides and wore the same navy blue uniforms as the British girls. The material and color was just too hot for Savannah and soon it was agreed they needed to change the uniform.

In the next few weeks, I'll tell more about Juliette Low's work with the Girl Guides and her friends, the Baden-Powells. I'll post some pictures of the village in Scotland where Juliette Low organized her first Girl Guide company and the Scottish castle (yes! a real castle!) where she lived.

YGGGS!

Dr D-

Introduction: An American Girl Scout in the UK

Introduction: An American Girl Scout in the UK

Greetings, Girl Scouts, and Happy New Year from Merry England!

My name is Dr. Deborah Lafferty and I am a Girl Scout and an American historian living in England.

I have been here researching the history of American Girl Scouting's roots in the British Girl Guide Movements.

Though I work mainly with British Girl Guides these days, I still visit my former home Girl Scout council (then the legacy Council of Mount Magazine and now Girl Scouts, Diamonds of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas). I lived in Pocola, Oklahoma and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Our council has a very special link with the Girl Guides in West Sussex, England, and we have been exchanging patrols of girls since 1980. That's how I made my first trip to England in 1996 as a leader for one of these patrols. The Guides invited me back to work for them at several camps. At one of those camps, I learned that we have been sisters to the Guides from the very beginning. Juliette Low was a Girl Guide before she started the Girl Scouts!

I love sharing the things I've learned about Juliette Low and historical places I've been with other Girl Scouts so, in the run up to the Centenary, let's explore some of that history, a trans-national history (that means one that reaches across many nations) of the American Girl Scouts and how you, in Pocola or Little Rock or Texarkana, keep the Girl Scouts strong even a hundred years later. Without you, there would be no reason to celebrate.

Yours in Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting (YGGGS)

Dr D