Who is Juliette Gordon Low? Girl Scouting was founded in the United States with Juliette Gordon Low. Low was born on Oct 31, 1860. Her father, William Washington Gordon, owned Belmont Plantation in Georgia, which put him at odds with his northern-born wife, Eleanor Lytle Kinzie.
The Gordons were uniquely placed to emerge from the war fairly unscathed because of Eleanor's northern ties. Eleanor took her children north at the war's end to live with her family in Chicago while the south underwent reconstruction.
While in Chicago, Low first met and gained an appreciation for Native Americans and their culture. These early lessons in diversity stayed with her throughout her life.
Because of Eleanor's ties to northern wealth and influence, the family was able to recover from the war rather quickly and return to live at Belmont where Daisy (as Low was known) began a lifelong search to make a difference in the world. From an early age, Low was known for her empathy towards others and her acts of kindness and good deeds, as well as a love of being active in the out of doors.
Married at 26 to William Mackay Low, Low moved to Warwickshire, England to live a life of wealth and privilege. Low 's husband was often absent, however, spending time drinking and gambling and eventually in the arms of a mistress. Deeply unhappy, Low filed for divorce but William died before it could be finalized.
William left the bulk of his fortune to his mistress, forcing Low to contest the will. Emerging victorious, Low again turned her attentions to finding her life's work. In 1911, she met Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who is credited with the founding of the Boy Scouts in England, almost accidentally as a result of writing a book intended to help boys learn how to be prepared in the case of a military invasion. Baden-Powell emphasized that training should be fun for the boys, which was an idea that Low embraced.
Agnes Baden-Powell, with the support of her brother and Low, soon was formed the first Girl Guide groups in England. The movement spread quickly and Juliette was instrumental in forming troops in Scotland and London, crossing social and economic boundaries to do so. The positive impact these troops had on girls' self-esteem convinced Low to take the idea back home to Georgia.
The perhaps apocryphal account of a phone call made by Low in which she is believed to have said, "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!" is not likely to be true. Girl Scouts celebrate March 12 as the Girl Scouts birthday but that date was chosen because one of the girls in the troop (Florence Crane) turned 11 on that date, which was the required age to join Girl Scouts.
That first "official" troop also included Low's niece and namesake, Margaret Daisy Gordon. Margaret is remembered as the "first" member of the first troop in America, which began under Low's leadership in Savannah, Georgia, but she was not even present at the investiture that was held on March 12, 1912.
What is also lost in this early history is how truly forward-thinking Low was. From its inception, Girl Scouts was a fully female-led organization in a time when women were not even allowed to vote. In addition, the registry for the first Girl Scouts in Savannah lists the names of 17 girls residing in the local orphanage before the names of the girls in the troop that included her niece. Given Low's lifelong interest in assisting the poor, it is not surprising that her initial instinct was to offer the program to the girls living in the orphanage.
African-American girls were also among the first to join Girl Scouts, with an early segregated patrol being led by Daisy's maid, Mamie, long before the first official African-American troop was recorded in 1917. Troops of Native American girls and Hispanics were also established in the 1920s. The hidden history of the founding of Girl Scouts is scattered with these examples of inclusion, diversity, and equity that are based on Low's vision of a movement for ALL girls everywhere.
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