Unsung History20 Okt 2025

The Girl Scouts of the USA

In 1912, wealthy Savannahian Juliette Gordon Low supposedly called her cousin and exclaimed: “Come right over! I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, for all of America, and for the world.” That something would become the Girl Scouts of the USA, an organization that throughout its history struggled to fulfill its initial promise of inclusion for all girls while trying to maintain an apolitical stance with deference to local councils. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Amy Farrell, the James Hopes Caldwell Memorial Chair and Professor of American Studies and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College and author of Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “By the campfire,” composed by Percy Wenrich with lyrics by Mabel Elizabeth Girling; the performance by the Sterling Trio on February 18, 1919, in New York, is available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox and is in the public domain. The episode image is “Girl Scouts, circa 1940s,” taken at Camp Long; Item 31422, Ben Evans Recreation Program Collection (Record Series 5801-02), Seattle Municipal Archives; used under CC BY 2.0.

Additional sources:

“Practical Patriotism: Camp Fire Girls, Girl Scouts, and Americanization,” by Leslie Hahner, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 5(2), 2008, 113–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/14791420801989702.
“New Quarter Honors Juliette Gordon Low, Founder of Girl Scouts,” by By Shannon Browning-Mullis, Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, March 20, 2025.
“Early Girl Scouting,” Georgia Historical Society.
“Girl Scouts Through the Years,” Women’s History and Cultural Center.
“100 years of Girl Scouts: part I,” by Adam Frost, Smithsonian Institute, May 30, 2012
“Quick History: Juliette Gordon Low [video],” Northeast Georgia History Center, March 13, 2020.
“Golden Eaglet: The Story of a Girl Scout [video],” Girl Scouts USA, 1919.
“From 18 girls in Savannah to a global movement to make a difference,” Girl Scouts USA.
“Girl Scout Cookie History,” Girl Scouts USA.

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