This year the Girl Scouts celebrate 100 years of an organization that builds leadership skills and fosters independent, self-reliant women. The organization dedicates itself to the promise to help people at all times, and to build character, confidence and courage in its membership.
It all started because one self-possessed capable woman who refused to crawl away when times got tough fell in love with the wrong man. Juliette Gordon, a Savannah, GA, debutante, fell madly in love with and married a wealthy British rake, William Mackay Low. Low not only had a lot of money, but unfortunately he also philandered and thought nothing of having extramarital affairs and of flaunting his mistresses in front of Juliette. Eventually abandoned by Low in early 1900, Juliette refused to roll over and play dead. When Low died and left his fortune to his mistress, Juliette fought for and won her share of the estate.
Juliette returned to the U.S. and in time she met Robert Baden-Powell, the man who founded the Boy Scout movement. Intrigued with the scouting movement and with the thought that girls could learn self-sufficiency, good citizenship and become competent people in their own right, in 1910 Juliette founded the Girl Guides organization. The movement, which quickly became hugely popular, encouraged girls to explore their full potential and move beyond the restrictions of the times. Girl Guides promoted the idea that girls could have careers in whatever field they chose, including non-traditional professions such as medicine, architecture and aviation.
In March of 1912, Juliette held a girl guides convention in Savannah and at the convention the organization officially changed its name to Girl Scouts. The rest is history.
Today, the Girl Scout movement has become the largest all female volunteer organization in the world. Over 50 million girls and women have been members of the Girl Scouts, and today the organization has 2.3 million active Scouts with 800,000 adult volunteers.
The biggest fundraiser of course is the sale of Girl Scout cookies. The organization first tried selling cookies in 1917, and the idea caught on and became one of the hallmarks of the Girl Scouts. Today the organization offers a large variety of cookies, and in honor of its 100th birthday, the Girl Scouts will offer a centennial cookie this year, Savannah Smiles.
Reader Comments(0)