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Robert S.S. Baden-Powell
As a youth, Robert Baden-Powell greatly enjoyed the outdoors, learning about nature and how to live in the wilderness. After returning as a military hero form service in Africa, Baden Powell also known as B.P., discovered the English boys were reading the manual on stalking and survival in the wilderness he had written for his military regiment. Gathering ideas form Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Cater Beard , and others, he rewrote the manual as a non-military nature book and called it Scouting for Boys. To test his ideas, B.P. brought together 22 boys to camp at Brownsea Island, off the coast of England. This historic campout was a success and resulted in the advent of Scouting. Thus, the imagination and inspiration of Baden- Powell, later proclaimed Chief Scout of the World, brought Scouting to youth the world over.
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Ernest Thompson Seton
Born in Scotland, Ernest Thompson Seton immigrated to America as a youth in the 1800's. His fascination with the wilderness led him to become a naturalist, an artist and an author, and through his works he influenced both youth and adults. Seton established a youth organization called the Woodcraft Indians, and his background of outdoor skills and interest in youth made him a logical choice for the position of the first Chief Scout of the BSA in 1910. His many volumes of Scoutcraft became an integral part of Scouting, and his intelligence and enthusiasm helped turn an idea into reality. Seton is credited in organizing cub Scouts in 1930.
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Daniel Carter Beard
Woodsman, illustrator, and naturalist, Daniel Carter Beard was a pioneering spirit of the Boy Scouts of America. Already 60 years old when the BSA was formed, he became a founder and merged it with his own boys' organization, the Sons of Daniel Boone. As the first national Scout commissioner, Beard helped design the original Scout uniform and introduced the elements of the First Class Scout badge. Uncle Dan'. as he was known to boys and leaders, will be remembered as a colorful figure dressed in buckskin who helped form Scouting in the United States.
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William D. Boyce
In 1909, a Chicago publisher William D Boyce lost his way in a dense London fog. A boy came to his aid and, after guiding the man, refused a tip, explaining that as a scout he would not take a tip for doing a Good Turn. This gesture by an unknown Scout inspired a meeting with Robert Baden Powell, the British founder of the Boy Scouts. As a result, William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. He also created the Lone Scouts, which merged with the BSA in 1924.
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James E. West
James E. West was appointed the first Chief Scout Executive of the BSA in 1911. Although orphaned and physically handicapped, he had the perseverance to graduate from law school and become a successful attorney. The same determination provided the impetus to help build Scouting into the largest and most effective youth organization in the world. When he retired in 1943, Dr. West was recognized throughout the country as the true architect of the Boy Scouts of America. |
The Jungle Book was written in 1894. It was originally published in chapter form in the American children's magazine, Saint Nicholas. From 1892 to 1896, the Kiplings lived in Brattleboro, Vermont on an estate belonging to Mrs. Kipling's family. In the pleasant New England surroundings, he wrote Captains Courageous and the two Jungle Books. These books earned him the Nobel prize in Literature in 1907. Kipling was the author of "The Scout's Patrol Song" which was the official Boy Scout song. Part I of the 1908 booklet, "Scouting For Boys" included a condensed version of Kipling's Kim. He was also the father of a Scout and later a commissioner in the British Scouting program. In 1924, he attended a rally of 6 thousand Wolf Cubs at the Imperial Jamboree at Wembley where he witnessed what Baden-Powell had made of his writings.
"Green Bar Bill" Hartcourt
Bill was a native of Denmark where he became a Boy Scout in January, 1911 at 11 years of age after he had been given the newly translated Scouting For Boys as a Christmas Gift. He became the Danish equivalent of an Eagle Scout and was sent by his Troop to the First World Jamboree in London in 1920. The success of the Danish team earned it the right to host the 2nd World Jamboree. Bill wrote his first book at the age of 23. It was a tale of Scout camping based on his own Patrol's experiences.
New York attracted Bill in September of 1926. His first Boy Scout job was with the BSA Supply Service. Bill later convinced James West that the BSA was not using the Patrol method correctly. West challenged him to write the Handbook For Patrol Leaders. Bill took the nickname "Green Bar Bill" from the patrol leaders badge as his Boy's Life pseudonym where he became an Assistant Editor. Green Bar Bill wrote over 300 articles for Boy's Life. In 1934, he and his wife, Grace, moved onto the Schiff Scout Reservation. It was here that he wrote a new book for Scoutmasters. He formed Troop 1 of Mendham, New Jersey to learn firsthand, the trials and joys of a Scoutmaster.
Bill was a member of the first Wood Badge course in America at Schiff in May, 1936. He was Troop Leader and Dog's Body ( Senior Patrol Leader) for the second. He recieved his beads in 1939. This gave him the qualifications to become Deputy Camp Chief of the United States and the Scoutmaster of Wood Badge #1 in 1948.
Bill retired in 1965 after writing the popular 1959, 6th edition, of the Boy Scout Handbook. He also held the title of National Director Program Resources and was the BSA's only Director of Scoutcraft. To get Scouting back on track following the introduction of "improved Scouting" in 1972, Bill was invited to come out of retirement and write the 1979, edition of the Boy Scout Handbook.
