Girl Scouts of the United States of America - The Girl Scouts

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LESSONS IN FOOD CONSERVATION

Series No. 6

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On My Honor, I Will Try:
To do my duty to God and to my Country
To help other people at all times
To obey the Scout Laws

History of the American Girl Scouts. When Sir Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement in England, it proved too attractive and too well adapted to youth to make it possible to limit its great opportunities to boys alone. The Sister organization, known in England as the Girl Guides, quickly followed it and won equal success.

Mrs. Juliette Low, an American visitor in England, and a personal friend of the father of Scouting, realized the tremendous future of the movement for her country; and with the active and friendly co-operation of the Baden-Powells, she founded the Girl Guides in America, enrolling the first patrols in Savannah, Georgia, in March, 1912.

In 1913 National Headquarters were established in Washington, D.C., and the name changed to Girl Scouts.

In 1915 the organization was incorporated with the legal title, Girl Scouts, Incorporated.

In 1916 National Headquarters were moved to New York and the methods and standards of what was plainly to be a nation-wide organization became established on a broad, practical basis.

The first National Convention was held in 1915, and each succeeding year has shown a larger and more enthusiastic body of delegates and a public more and more interested in this steadily growing army of girls and young women who are learning in the happiest way to combine patriotism, outdoor activities of every kind, skill in every branch of domestic science and high standards of community service.

Every side of the girl's nature is brought out and developed by enthusiastic captains, who join in the games and various forms of training and encourage team work and fair play. For the instruction of the captains, national camps and training schools are being established all over the country; and the schools and churches everywhere are co-operating eagerly with this great recreational movement, which they realize adds something to the life of the growing girl that they have been unable to supply.

Colleges are offering fellowships in scouting as a serious course for would-be captains, and prominent citizens in every part of the country are identifying themselves with local councils in an advisory and helpful capacity. At the present writing, nearly 60,000 girls and more than 3,000 captains represent the original little troop in Savannahsurely a satisfying sight for our Founder and National President, when she realizes what a healthy sprig she has transplanted from the Mother Country!

Aims. While the aims of Scouting are similar to those of the schools, the church and the home, its methods are less direct and success depends upon the attraction which the program has for the girls. Belonging to an organization, the uniform, such novel activities as knot-tying, hiking, signalling and drilling, the chance for leadership, the laws to which they voluntarily subscribe and the recognition of ability by the system of giving badges are the distinctive elements of Scouting. They succeed in bringing about improved health, approved standards of behavior towards others, a general arousing of the imagination as well as practical knowledge.

The ideal background for the entire program is cheerful companionship in the open.

Standards. The standards of the Girl Scouts are expressed in their Laws and Promise, their Motto and Slogan which are as follows:

On my Honor, I Will try:
To do my duty to God and to my Country
To help other people at all times
To obey the Scout Laws.

Be Prepared

Do a Good Turn Daily

The best results are obtained by emphasizing the fact that these ways are the girl's own idea of the way to live, her choice. Success in expressing one's own ideas never fails to give satisfaction. Clever parents and teachers make use of this. A Scout is cheerful is a more effective method of influencing a girl, for instance, than any amount of advice on the subject.

It seems to be more and more difficult to induce girls to learn or practice housework. For the average woman this is still necessary, and the more advanced schools have taken it up. For the girl whom neither the home nor the school has been able to reach, Scouting offers a most successful and attractive means of getting the practical information to the young generation. They will do for merit badges, in other words, what they will not do for their mothers or teachers.

An effective manner of upholding and exercising these standards, is, as has been abundantly proved by the great war, the uniform. Earning and proving worthy of it stimulates child, girl and woman alike. Uniform and ceremony, not overemphasized, but duly insisted upon, have a profound significance to the human race, and teach us to sink the individual interests and raise the standards of the group.

Leadership and The Patrol System. In general a troop should not contain more than thirty or forty girls. Many very experienced captains have larger troops when they have several lieutenants to assist them. The troops are divided into groups, or patrols of eight and treated as units, each under its own responsible leader. An invaluable step in character building is to put responsibility on the individual. This is done in electing a Patrol Leader to be responsible for the control of her Patrol. Leaders should serve a limited time and every girl in a patrol should have the experience of serving some time during her membership. It is up to her to take hold and develop the qualities of each girl in her Patrol. It sounds a big order, but in practice it works. With a friendly rivalry established between patrols a patrol esprit de corps is developed and each girl in that patrol realizes that she is herself a responsible unit and that the honor of her group depends on her efficiency in playing the game. The patrol system is an essential feature in Scouting. When this is lost sight of and the attitude of a teacher is adopted, making the troop a