History of Scouting America
Scouting America was inspired by and modeled on The Boy Scouts Association, established by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain in 1908. In the early 1900s, several youth organizations were active, and many became part of Scouting America.
Scouting America was founded as the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 at the "first encampment" in Silver Bay, NY, and grew rapidly and became the largest youth organization in the United States. Early issues involved race, the "younger boy problem," and the "older boy problem." Troops initially followed local community policy on race. For younger boys, the Cubbing program arose and for older boys, Rovering and Exploring programs were developed. Additional programs and changes have occurred over the years to adapt the program to the youth of the day.
W. D. Boyce and the Unknown Scout
was an American newspaper man and entrepreneur. According to legend, he was lost on a foggy street in London when an unknown Scout came to his aid, guiding him back to his destination. The boy then refused Boyce's tip, explaining that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout. It is said that immediately afterward, Boyce met with General Robert Baden-Powell, who was the head of the Boy Scout Association at that time. Boyce returned to America, and, four months later, founded the Boy Scouts of America. This version of the legend has been printed in numerous BSA handbooks and magazines. There are several variations of this legend, such as one that claims he knew about Scouting ahead of time.In reality, Boyce stopped in London en route to a safari in British East Africa. It is true that an unknown Scout helped him and refused a tip. But this Scout only helped him cross a street to a hotel, did not take him to the Scout headquarters, and Boyce never met Baden-Powell. Upon Boyce's request, the unknown Scout did indeed give him the address of the Scout headquarters, where Boyce went on his own and picked up information about the group. Weather reports show that London had no fog that day. Boyce returned to London after his safari and visited the Scout headquarters again and gained the use of Scouting for Boys in the development of a US Scouting program. This and other elements of the legend were promoted by James E. West in 1915 to help build up Boyce as the true founder of the BSA in order to defuse an escalating conflict between Daniel Carter Beard and Ernest Thompson Seton over who should be considered the founder of the BSA. Elements of this story, including the fog, may have been borrowed from a story concerning the Rhode Island Boy Scouts.
Scouting comes to the United States
Boyce returned to the United States and with Edward S. Stewart and Stanley D. Willis. He incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910, and applied for a congressional charter. The bill was tied up with a charter for the Rockefeller Foundation and Boyce withdrew it after many delays. Around this time, William Randolph Hearst, a rival newspaperman, formed the American Boy Scouts, a group that lasted through 1918. Between business and travel, Boyce did not spend much time on the new organization. Edgar M. Robinson, a senior administrator of the YMCA in New York City, learned of the new Boy Scout program and traveled to Chicago where he agreed to help Boyce organize the Boy Scouts as a national organization. Boyce pledged $1000 a month for a year to support the program– but reports indicate only three or four payments were actually made. Robinson returned to New York to begin the search for members. After a series of meetings in early 1910, the Woodcraft Indians led by Ernest Thompson Seton, the Boy Scouts of the United States headed by Colonel Peter Bomus and the National Scouts of America headed by Colonel William Verbeck were absorbed into the BSA. The National Highway Patrol Association Scouts headed by Colonel E. S. Cornell and the Boy Pioneers headed by Daniel Carter Beard were folded. The BSA National Office opened in the 28th Street YMCA in New York City on June 1, 1910. The first managing secretary was John Alexander, a YMCA administrator from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By autumn BSA had 2,500 leader applications from 44 states and 150,900 youth inquiries.The National Council was formed in the fall of 1910 with Colin H. Livingstone as the national president, Robinson becoming the managing secretary and Seton as Chief Scout. Beard, Bomus and Verbeck became the National Commissioners. Robinson wanted to return to his full-time position at the YMCA, so Livingstone put out inquiries for a replacement.
James E. West was a federal government lawyer known as a leading advocate of children's rights. In 1910, with the endorsement of President Roosevelt, West was hired on a six-month temporary basis by Boy Scouts of America starting on January 1, 1911. This employment would end up lasting 35 years.
1910s
The new BSA office at 200 Fifth Avenue opened in January 1911, with West at the helm and the movement began to grow at a rapid pace. One of West's first tasks was to revise the British-based program outline in Seton's handbook and adapt it for American boys. West was instrumental in expanding the third part of the Scout Oath:He also pushed to add three parts to the Scout Law: brave, clean, and reverent. He then pressed article III of the constitution of the BSA, now known as the religious principle:
Emblem
The fleur-de-lis was used early on by Lord Baden-Powell in the Scouting movement. This symbol was criticized by some early on as Baden-Powell explained in 1933. He explained that some had accused scouting to be a military movement and as proof that the fleur-de-lis was nothing more than a spear-head, the emblem of battle. He defended the movement by stating that, while Scouts support the military, Scouting is not soldiering. In Lessons From The Varsity Of Life, he stated that "The crest is the fleur-de-lys, a lily, the emblem of peace and purity." He further explained that he "chose the Fleur-de-Lys, which marks the North point on the compass, as the Scout is the man who can show the way like a compass needle." It was used to remind the scouts of the three promises he made: Duty to Others, Duty to God and Duty to Self. This international symbol of scouting was embraced by the American Leaders. An eagle and the shield were superimposed to represent American Scouting.Organization
As the BSA grew, the concept of the local council grew as a method of administration. With the local council came the beginning of the Commissioner Service. Local commissioners formed the first councils and started the tradition of direct support to the Scoutmaster. A first-class council had a paid commissioner, and could keep 15 cents of each 25-cent registration, while second-class councils with volunteer commissioners could keep five cents.The first Annual Meeting took place on February 14 and 15, 1911 in Washington, DC. The council arrived at Union Station by a patrol of boy scouts. The meeting took place mostly at the New Willard Hotel. On the afternoon of February 14, the delegation walked to the White House to meet President Taft, the honorary president of the BSA who "addressed the council, expressed his interest in the movement, and his approval of its purposes to develop the American youth into potential defenders of the Nation. Were also in attendance, Sir Baden-Powell and British Ambassador James Bryce. According to Mr. West, the Boy Scouts of America had approximately 300,000 members at that point.
Handbook
Seton wrote A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft which was the first version of the current Boy Scout Handbook. It borrowed heavily from Lord Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys who in turn was based heavily on Seton's handbook The birch Bark Roll for his youth group The Woodcraft Indians. Published from July 1910 to March 1911, it covered the Scouting organization and camping skills but did not talk of first aid, knife and axe safe use or how to use a compass and map. The new edition of the handbook renamed The Official Handbook for Boys was published in June 1911 and covered similar topics.The original handbook a lot of material from Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys. The Scout Law in this original source included that boys needed to be loyal to "his employers" and this was repeated in some early editions of the BSA material. Some union leaders understood this as BSA opposing the right to strike and the right to Collective bargaining. This loyalty was removed from the 1911 edition, but it took several years for some labor organizations to allow their members' sons to join Boy Scouts of America.
West was elevated in prestige through a change in his title when in November 1911 he became the Chief Scout Executive. He and his staff created two requirements that became fundamental to the structure of the organization, which were the requirement that troop charters be issued to a community organization or established group of citizens, and secondly, that each Scoutmaster would be under the supervision of a registered troop committee consisting of a chairman and at least two members who were not the Scoutmaster or his assistants.
In February 1912, Baden-Powell returned to the United States and West accompanied him on tour. Baden-Powell remarked that the BSA needed better communications. After discussions with the executive board, Boyce offered to fund a magazine if it were published by his company in Chicago. Livingstone declined the offer, noting that the board wanted the magazine to be published from the New York office. Boyce withdrew from all administrative duties and returned to newspaper management. West learned of a Scouting magazine called Boys' Life and recommended it for purchase. The first cover by Norman Rockwell, Scout at Ship's Wheel, appeared on the September 1913 issue.
In 1912, Sea Scouting became an official program, based on the British Sea Scout program. Arthur Rose Eldred became the first Eagle Scout in 1912.