GIRL SCOUTS
THROUGH THE
AGES: A LOOK AT
GIRL SCOUTS IN
AMERICA
Colleen M.
Horace Greeley H.S.
AHAP-NOP
Chappaqua, NY
ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
How did Girl Scouts as an
organization reflect the
changing roles of women
in society?
Origins
Four of the
first badges
Founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low
Called Girl Guides for its first year
The first troop meeting was held on March 12,
1912 in Savannah, Georgia
The idea came from Lord Baden Powell,
who founded Boy Scouts in England, and his
sister, Agnes, who founded Girl Guides
At this time, a woman’s future was limited, as
was her schooling
One of the
first troops
(circa 1912)
Purpose
The purpose of Girl Scouts was to
establish self-development, good
citizenship, and love of the
outdoors
Because of her marital problems
(after his death, Low’s husband
left his estate to his mistress),
Low encouraged independence in
girls
While still promoting the ideals of
the era (housekeeping, child care,
etc), Girl Scouts also emphasized
independence, physical fitness,
and careers for women
Juliette Low awarding
the Golden Eaglet, the
highest award in Girl
Scouts at the time
Uniforms
In this time period, women usually wore long
dresses that covered their wrists, neck, and
ankles
Problem: Juliette Low wanted the girls to be able
to move around
The end result was a short dress, cinched around
the middle with a belt, with thick stockings for
winter and lighter tights for warm weather
In 1912, the uniform was actually blue
It was changed to khaki in 1914, and to the nowfamous green in 1928
Uniforms
Uniforms were a way for the organization
to be recognized
When they were in public, people would be
able to associate the girls with a specific
organization
This would connect Girl Scouts with a helpful, not
revolutionary, purpose
At first, the badges were sewn onto the sleeves of
the dress
Only later were vests and sashes created
present
1970s
1940s
Badges and Handbooks
Originally the badges were to let the girls show
off their prowess in “acceptable” activities, such
as sewing, cooking, etc
The handbook contained “helpful” information on
how a proper lady should think and act
While Girl Scouts professed some new ideas, the
organization mostly stayed true to the ideas of
the “ideal woman” of that time
1920 Girl
Scout Handbook
The first
handbook (1913)
1912
The Girl Scout Laws
1. A Girl Scout’s Honor is to be Trusted.
2. A Girl Scout is Loyal.
3. A Girl Scout's Duty Is to be Useful and to Help Others
4. A Girl Scout is a Friend to All, and a Sister to every other Girl Scout
no matter to what Social Class she May Belong.
5. A Girl Scout Is Courteous.
6. A Girl Scout Keeps Herself Pure.
7. A Girl Scout Is a Friend to Animals.
8. A Girl Scout Obeys Orders.
9. Girl Scout is Cheerful.
10. A Girl Scout is Thrifty.
The values of this time period were reflected in
the laws
Cheerful- “…(she) should sing even if she dislikes
it”
Women were meant to make the world more
pleasant
The Girl Scout Laws
In 1916, the 6th Law was changed to Cheerful,
and the 9th Law was changed to Pure
In 1917, the 4th Law was changed to read: A Girl
Scout is a Friend to All and a Sister to Every
Other Girl Scout
After 1917, the laws would not be changed again
until 1972
At that point, Girl Scouts itself, as well as their
ideals, had undergone many changes
A “medieval”
representation of
the Girl Scout Laws
and Promise
World War I
(1914-1918)
While the men went off to fight in Europe,
someone had to pick up the jobs that they left
behind
Women began to work in jobs that had never
before been done by females
Girls helped to conserve and preserve food, sold
war bonds, worked in hospitals, and collected
peach pits for use in gas mask filters
Girl Scouts team up to
preserve fruits and
vegetables to prevent
food shortages
The war gave girls the chance to earn over 25
badges
Child Nurse, etc
Elizabeth Felegara
Elizabeth Felegara was in the first
Chappaqua Girl Scout troop in 1937
Some of her activities included
hiking, photography, knots and lashing,
and learning Morse Code
In the early 1940s (during WWII), she and her
troop helped their mothers (who were nurses) in
local army hospitals
“I suppose we were the forerunners of The Candy
Stripers.”
Mrs. Felegara with her
troop in 1941
1938
Elizabeth Felegara
The girls planted Victory Gardens, even in 1940,
before Pearl Harbor
“We…had a Victory Garden Contest…which
I won…”
A Victory Garden
booklet
One who was of age had to (and wanted
to) look like a lady
“…we asked Betty White to speak to the
girls about good grooming- taking showers,
using deodorant, a tad of lipstick, etc.”
Makeup was becoming popular
Women were becoming an
everyday part of society,
and they wanted
to look presentable
Lou Henry Hoover
Throughout her life, Mrs. Hoover
loved Girl Scouts
"To me…scouting has always been
the most important.”
She became the leader of Troop
VIII
She served on every branch of Girl
Scouting: from troop leader, to
president of the national
organization, to national board
member
Mrs. Hoover making
her first radio
address in the White
House, accompanied
by two Girl Scouts
An example of the “new woman”active in society
As First Lady, she was the honorary
head of Girl Scouts
The Great Depression
(1929-1939)
During the Depression, membership in Girl Scouts
continued to grow, partially because it provided relief
and opportunities to girls (especially poorer ones)
The girls did community service to help those severely
affected by the Depression
Collecting clothing, making quilts, carving wood toys,
gathering food, assisting in hospitals, participating in
food drives and canning programs, and providing meals
Theatre, movies, art, dance, and
music were all distractions from
the hopelessness of everyday life,
and the Girl Scouts participated in
and created more of them
Gathering food for
neighbors in need
WWII
(1939-1945)
During the war, Girl Scouts rose to the occasion
and greatly helped on the home front
They operated bicycle courier services, invested
over 48,000 hours in Farm Aide projects,
collected fat and scrap metal, and grew Victory
Gardens
Girl Scouts learn about aviation
through the Wing Scout
program
They collected over 1.5 million pieces of clothing
and shipped them to Europe for the freed
prisoners of war
Pamphlets were given out about service projects
and how to act in an aid raid
WWII
Up until this point, there wasn’t an event that
really gave the Girl Scouts a chance to help and
prove themselves
Women met the needs of the nation by taking on
jobs in factories that were once occupied by men
After the war ended, many women didn’t want to go
back to their old lives, which paved the way for the
“revolution” of women in the workplace
The Girl Scouts of WWII became the women who
fought for the right to work in “a man’s world”
Girl Scouts collect scrap metal
for recycling for the war effort.
1950s
Girl Scouts
encourage
international
friendships.
Two Senior
Girl Scouts
prepare
for a camping
adventure.
Brown vs Board of Ed (1954) shocked many in the
demand for desegregation of the schools
However, the Girl Scouts has already begun mixing
races
Ebony Magazine (1952)- “Girl Scouts in the South
are making steady progress toward breaking down
racial taboos."
Some of the “social outcasts” that were Girl
Scouts expended much effort to include were
the daughters of migrant agricultural workers,
military personnel, Native Americans, Alaskan
Eskimos, and the physically challenged
Much of the rest of society hadn’t accepted these
groups as equal to whites yet
1950s
However, women were still considered inferior
to men, and only there to serve and please males
There were textbooks detailing what a good
wife should and should not do
“Don't complain if he's home late for dinner, or
even stays out all night.”
“His boring day may need a lift and one of your
duties is to provide it.”
“Don't ask him questions about his actions or
question his judgment or integrity. Remember he
is the master of the house and as such will always
exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness.”
“In all things be led by your husband's wishes…”
1960s
The 60s were a time of great
social unrest
Martin Luther King, Jr and
others fought for black civil
rights
The Girl Scout National Council
publicly announced that the
organization supported civil rights
Girl Scouts
witness the
Apollo 12 moon
launch at Cape
Kennedy, Florida.
In this time, Girl Scouts was
divided into Brownie, Junior, Cadette, and
Senior Scouts, depending on age
NASA invited 100 girls to see the launch of
Apollo 12 at Cape Kennedy, Florida
By 1969, over 43% of women were working
In the 1950s, a woman’s place was in the house
The Girl Scout Law
1972
I will do my best:
To be honest
To be fair
To help where I am needed
To be cheerful
To be friendly and considerate
To be a sister to every Girl Scout
To respect authority
To use resources wisely
To protect and improve the world around me
To show respect for myself and others through my words and
actions.
The law became one sentence, focusing more
on the qualities expected of every human
being, and not just a woman
Reason: women had become more valued members
of society, and not just people to take care of
the home
1970s
In 1975, Gloria D. Scott became the first
African-American National Girl Scout
President
In response to the growing environmental
awareness, an program called Eco-Action was
born
The win in 1973 by Billie Jean King in “The
Battle of the Sexes” created more feminist
feeling- maybe men weren’t really better than
women at all
Anna Mae McCabe Hays becomes the first
woman general in the U.S. Army
Shortly before this, women were in their own
separate unit
Girl Scouts taught girls many things needed in
the military- there were numerous Girl Scoutsgone-soldiers
1980s
The informational pamphlet Tune In to WellBeing, Say No to Drugs was first published in
1985
This was part of the “Say No To Drugs” campaign led
by First Lady Nancy Reagan
In response to the growing
threat of the AIDS epidemic
Two informational pamphlets
As the US reached out to other countries, Girl
Scouts did too
In New York, the Edith Macy International Center
opened
It would later serve as a meeting place for Girl Scouts
of all countries, and a place where customs could be
shared
1980s
In 1986, the spacecraft Challenger exploded,
killing all seven astronauts, including school teacher
and former Girl Scout, Sharon Christa McAuliffe.
Christa
McAuliffe
The explosion
of Challenger 7
Sandra Day O'Connor, also a Girl
Scout alumna, became the first
female Supreme Court Justice.
Sandra Day
O’Connor
1990s
Nearly four million Girl Scouts, girls and adult
leaders, tackled illiteracy alongside First Lady
Barbara Bush in the Right to Read service
project
Girls came from being almost totally illiterate to
helping others who were- how they had progress
from their beginnings in 1912
Girl Scouts began a health and fitness national
service project, Be Your Best, to promote
different ways of being healthy, keeping fit, and
eating right
This came along with the new food pyramid,
which happened to be drastically different from
the previous ones
The Girl Scout Law
1992
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place,
and be a sister to every Girl Scout.
The part “courageous and strong” was new
It reflected the new idea of what a woman
should be, or rather, what she did not have to
be
Women now had a say in their own lives
September 11th, 2001
After the tragic events of 9/11, Girl Scouts
everywhere banded together to help
In NY, hundreds of boxes of Girl Scout cookies
were sent to the volunteers working at Ground
Zero
Thousands of women (some former Girl Scouts)
joined the military to fight al Qaeda
60 years ago, women fought in separate units,
most of which never saw actual combat
No event since Vietnam had the general public
been this involved in a national crisis
They performed community services, hosted
remembrance ceremonies, and wrote thank-you
letters to rescuers
9-11-01 Girl Scout Patch (not
earned, just to show support)
Afghanistan and Iraq
One soldiers actually began going over to
Afghanistan and Iraq, Girl Scouts started
collecting food, clothing, and money to send to both
the soldiers and the natives
When asked by President Bush, almost every Girl
Scout donated $1 to the children of Afghanistan
There continues to be a drive with every cookie sale
that sends cases over to the soldiers
A Brownie high-fives
a soldier while
delivering cookies to
be shipped overseas
to the troops
In March 2004, Girl and Boy Scouts were founded
in Iraq
Modern Girl Scouts
Membership in GSUSA went from 18 girls in
1912 to 3.3 million in 2007
Currently, wearing uniforms is not demanded
for every meeting as it was in the beginning
Not many girls wear the white gloves and skirt
There are over ten different kinds of cookies
sold each year
Girl Scouts has become one of the most
influential and well-known organizations in the
world
They have continued to give girls the
opportunity to change the world around them
Girl Scouts are extremely valuable
By earning different awards, they are also
helping their community
THE END
Extra Info
•Golden Eaglet of Merit, 1916 to 1919
(the first Girl Scout top award)
•Golden Eaglet, 1919 to 1940
•Curved Bar Award, 1940 to 1963
•First Class award, 1963 to 1980
•Girl Scout Gold Award®, 1980 to present
The Highest Award
Each of these awards tested
the strength of character,
as well as the motivation, of
the girl earning it
The Gold Award includes 30
hours of leadership,
Interest Project Patches,
and several other time
consuming prerequisites
The project
Must have continuity,
leadership, and community
service, as well as being at
least 65 hours
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