Americana : 100 Years of Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low awarding one of her Girl Scouts

Self-portrait of Juliette

   "I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!", proclaimed Juliette Gordon Low to a cousin on March 12, 1912.   Girl Scouts, one of America's greatest organizations, is turning 100, today, March 12, 2012.   It's founder, Juliette Gordon Low started Girl Scouts, originally called the Girl Guides, after being introduced to their prototype when she was living in England.  Recently widowed,  and without any children of her own, Juliette wanted to do something meaningful with herself.  So being the good citizen she was, Juliette decided to make a patriotic contribution to her country by starting a program to help girls become involved citizens and patriotic Americans.   Juliette was one of our greatest leaders in promoting the independence and capabilities of the female sex.  In a time when women didn't even have the right to vote, Girl Scouts was telling girls their ideas were not only important,  but vital to the success of our country and the world, for that matter.  Juliette told her scouts they could do anything and encouraged them to "prepare not only for traditional homemaking, but also for possible future roles as professional women- in the arts, sciences, and business- and for active citizenship outside the home," telling them they could do anything they wanted if they worked at it.   Juliette developed the girls' resourcefulness, self-reliance, and competence outdoors, while also insisting they create and maintain a sisterhood to fellow girl scouts and sisters all over the world.  Girl Scouts was a forward thinking organization from the very start, welcoming girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded from many other activities.   Juliette was considered legally deaf after suffering 2 unlikely accidents which alternately took the hearing from both of her ears, so the idea of allowing the disabled into her organization "seemed quite natural to Juliette", because she never let her deafness limit her from anything she wanted to do, so why limit others? Juliette said,"right is right, even if no one else does it." No obstacle was too high for Juliette.  Juliette started the Girl Scouts when she was a whopping 51 years old, (that was considered even older in her time), just after her husband died leaving his entire estate to another woman (she contested the will and after a hard battle, was awarded part of the estate),  so she had to sell her precious set of family pearls to fund her new pet project. Women owe a lot to trailblazing women like Juliette Gordon Low and  her example of determination, spirit and guts. 
     

Bravo, Juliette!

     Between the years 1917-1979, the Girl Scout organization maintained a periodical called The American Girl. (It was first called The Rally and later just, American Girl)  It was one of the first and most widely read publications aimed primarily at teen-aged girls.  Though not affiliated with the current version of American Girl magazine or the related popular dolls that celebrate girls through the ages, it isn't a big leap to assume the Girl Scout version of the magazine  and Girl Scouts themselves, served as the inspiration for both. 

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1964

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A current publication of
American Girl magazine

     I am proud to say this is my 3rd year as a Girl Scout leader, sharing the role with 8 other co-leaders.   We are a like minded group of women who are interested in teaching our girls about nature, civic duty, and loyalty to each other.  My daughter Lizzie, who has graduated from Daisy to Brownie, has gained a lot from her time as a Girl Scout.  Our girls are learning how to be good citizens, by visiting old folks homes, where they sing, deliver handmade notes and flowers,  hold peoples hands and share their time; by helping keep the Earth beautiful, by trash collecting, gardening,  and recycling; and by donating their hard earned cookie sales money to worthy causes such as our school, animal shelters, food banks, and homeless shelters, keeping just a little for their own pleasure.  Our girls have learned how to appreciate the great out doors. 

Our backyard sleepover where we learned some outdoor training

They have been trained to put up a tent, to recognize local flora and fauna, hike our trails and creeks, to light a match, to read a compass, and to love every minute of it.  We have learned about and celebrated other cultures by participating in Thinking Day, a national Girl Scout event, held locally, where each troop wears the native dress, serves food and shares some information from the country they are representing.  What a fun way to learn about the world.  We celebrated our troop's diversity by having a holiday party where we talked about our family's holiday traditions and shared a favorite dish. 

Playing the Dredle game

Learning about our family's cultural traditions

Our troop shares their favorite holiday dishes

Alternately singing Christmas and Hanukkah songs

We have learned about civic duty by feeding our local firemen, participating in parades and next week we will have the honor of leading our 1st official flag cermony at our elementary school, where we will also lead the group with a rousing rendition of She's a Grand Old Flag. 

      Girls Scouts are popular for their support of young girls all over the world and throughout the ages, but they are probably best known for their iconic cookies.  As my daughter set up a booth to sell cookies at a well traveled intersection in our neighborhood, we almost caused a few accidents as people made wild u-turns and skidding stops once they saw what we were selling.  "I saw the Thin Mints and had to stop!", they would often exclaim.  Most of us dread fundraising because it seems like we're constantly asking friends, family and complete strangers to support this effort or that, but selling Girl Scout Cookies is like taking candy from a baby.  People actually anticipate it and it's a real learning experience for the girls.  By selling cookies the girls learn how to set goals, to be responsible for and deal with money, and to speak up and be assertive while always being polite.  Our girls ask for cookie donations for a local charity and for our soldiers abroad.  This year my daughter, Lizzie,  set a goal of donating at least 7 cases of Girl Scout Cookies to our soldiers.  She was able to exceed her goal and donate just under 12 cases.  

Lizzie with a personal message for the troops

     Last week, I co - led our Brownie meeting at my house, with 2 other leaders.  The meeting was focused on learning about our founder, Juliette Gordon Low, and celebrating the 100th year birthday of Girl Scouts.  We followed the timeline on girlscouts.org, that highlighted the life of JGL, as the girls cut out vintage Girl Scout paper dolls that I had purchased the year before, while visiting the historic home of JGL in Savannah, Georgia.   We decorated cupcakes and then passed out birthday candles, preparing to sing happy birthday to Girl Scouts.  Lynette, my co-leader, who had dressed up as Juliette Gordon Low, gave the girls a lesson on how to properly light a match.  We lit our candles and blew them out...myself, making the wish for at least 100 more years of Girl Scouts.

Cutting out paper dolls

Learning to light a match

     The past, present and future Girl Scouts, mothers of daughters, and women of the world, salute you, Juliette Gordon Low.

Girl Scout troop #1

Girl Scout troop #50724

Happy Birthday, Girl Scouts!

A Tree for the Future

Every spring

The sap rises in the trees

From root to branch

And makes a tree that looks dead

Blossom with green leaves

And life.

So it is that the Scouting Spirit

Rises within you and

Inspires you to put forth

Your best.

                                                     ~Juliette Gordon Low

                                                            

     If you'd like to learn more about the amazing woman who was Juliette Gordon Low, I would recommend,  Juliette Gordon Low: The Remarkable Founder of the Girl Scouts and Lady from Savannah: The Life of Juliette Low, for adults and for children, Juliette Low, Girl Scouts Founder, of the Young Patriots series.