First Girl Scout Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Photo

  Acknowledgments

  Photo

  INTRODUCTION

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  MAKE NEW FRIENDS

  CHRONOLOGY

  SOURCE NOTES

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  INDEX

  Footnotes

  Clarion Books, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003

  Copyright © 2012 by Ginger Wadsworth

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,

  write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,

  215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

  Clarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

  www.hmhbooks.com

  Text set in Fairfield LH

  Book design by Sara Gillingham

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Wadsworth, Ginger.

  First Girl Scout : the life of Juliette Gordon Low / Ginger Wadsworth.

  p. cm.

  Summary: "Juliette (Daisy) Gordon Low was a remarkable woman with ideas that were ahead of her time. She witnessed

  important eras in U.S. history, from the Civil War and Reconstruction to westward expansion to post-World War I. And she

  made history by founding the first national organization to bring girls from all backgrounds into the out-of-doors. Daisy created

  controversy by encouraging them to prepare not only for traditional homemaking but also for roles as professional women—in the

  arts, sciences, and business—and for active citizenship outside the home. Her group also welcomed girls with disabilities at a time

  when they were usually excluded.

  Includes author's note, source notes, bibliography, timeline, places to visit, recipes, The Girl Scout Promise and Law, and sheet

  music for the favorite scout song "Make New Friends.""—Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-547-24394-8 (hardback)

  1. Low, Juliette Gordon, 1860–1927—Juvenile literature. 2. Girl Scouts of the United States of America—History—Juvenile

  literature. 3. Girl Scouts—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

  HS3268.2.L68W33 2012 369.463092—dc22 [B] 2011009642

  This book is not authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by Girl Scouts of the USA. The GIRL SCOUT® name, mark, and all

  associated trademarks and logotypes are owned by Girl Scouts of the USA.

  Images used by permission of the Girl Scouts of the USA are identified at the end of each caption by the following abbreviations:

  JGLB—Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, Savannah, Georgia

  NHPC—National Historic Preservation Center, New York City

  Manufactured in China

  LEO 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  4500311905

  For Ann, Gretchen, Bev, Daira, Cheryl,

  Barbara, Sandy, Susanna, Heather, Carole, April,

  Betty, Sandy, Chrissy, Margo, and the

  rest of the gang who belonged to Troop 695.

  Friends forever!

  Edward Hughes, a popular London artist, painted this portrait of Juliette Gordon Low. The large oil painting now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. National Portrait Gallery

  Acknowledgments

  AS A WRITER, I rely on e-mail, the Internet, library access, snail mail, and a cell phone, but I can only do so much from my desk in the way of research. I needed to "walk" in Juliette (Daisy) Gordon Low's footsteps as much as possible.

  My first trip took me (and my husband, Bill) to Savannah, Georgia, where Daisy was born and raised. The staff at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace (JGLB) generously shared Daisy's diary, letters, newspapers, articles, and images with us. The Birthplace is a busy hub! While we worked, the phone rang constantly as people from around the world called to ask questions, arrange visits, and more. Fran Powell Harold, director of the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, Katherine K. Keena, program manager, and other staff members graciously helped us despite their hectic schedules.

  We toured the Birthplace, both inside and out, and we did additional research at the Georgia Historical Society, also in Savannah. We took a docent-led tour of the Andrew Low House, where Daisy lived as a bride and at the end of her life. The director, Stephen Bohlin, and his assistant, Kate Greene, provided images and relayed answers about the Low House and Daisy's menagerie of pets. Jami Brantley, collections manager/curator at the First Girl Scout Headquarters, answered our many questions when we met her there. Then we went to Laurel Grove Cemetery, where Daisy and her family are buried, and saw Christ Church. Just being in Savannah gave us a rich sense of Daisy's roots.

  I went to New York City, where I studied the Juliette Gordon Low archives at the National Historic Preservation Center (NHPC) located within the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) National Headquarters. Thanks go to Yevgeniya Gribov, archivist, for her enthusiasm and for directing me to relevant materials in their collection.

  I traveled to London and saw the spot in Buckingham Palace where Daisy was presented at court, and I walked around Grosvenor Square, where she lived for several years. Exploring London gave me a glimpse into Daisy's world in Great Britain.

  In between these trips, I was back in my chair in front of my computer and still relying on many people and sources to help illuminate the countless aspects of Daisy's fascinating life.

  Girl Guide experts in Great Britain sent me articles, copies of photographs, and answers to a number of questions. Thank you, Karen Stapley, archivist, and others. From Daniel Scott-Davies, archive and heritage manager of the Scout Association in London, I learned about the formation of the Boy Scouts in Great Britain. Spencer Howard, archivist from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, provided help regarding Lou Henry Hoover. Nora Lewis, director of library and archives at the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah, and other staff members assisted me with image selections and research. Neil Bauman, executive director, and Hugh Hetherington at the Hearing Aid Museum (www.hearingaidmuseum.com) shared helpful information about how Daisy may have coped with her hearing impairment. Carol Johnson loaned me her Girl Scout handbook, and other friends showed me their badges, sashes, and Girl Scout memorabilia and shared remembrances that helped ignite my own fond memories as a Girl Scout and heightened my enthusiasm to "put pen to paper." Staff at the San Diego Girl Scout Council even helped me confirm details of my early days in Girl Scouting.

  Lynne Polvino, my editor at Clarion Books, has supported me from day one on this project, and her skillful, insightful editing has richly improved this book. Special thanks go to my husband, Bill Wadsworth. He is not only a great travel partner but a tough and thoughtful editor.

  My GSUSA contacts in Savannah and New York continued to answer questions, uncover photos, and provide additional nuggets of information along the way, and I am grateful for their advice and patience. Along with Pamela Cruz, director of the NHPC, Bettye Bradley, vice president of corporate administration
, and others, they reviewed the text for accuracy. I did my best to incorporate all their suggestions, and any inaccuracies are mine.

  Daisy often traveled back and forth between England and America with her pets, including this beloved parrot, Polly Poons. Girl Scouts of the USA-JGLB

  INTRODUCTION

  AFTER LEAVING GREAT BRITAIN, the ocean liner SS Arcadian rocked and rolled in the storm-churned sea. Most of the 320 first-class passengers elected to stay safely in their staterooms ... except Juliette Gordon Low.

  Daisy as everyone called her, couldn't sit still for long. Instead, she paced the halls of the steamship, trying to sort out her thoughts. A group called the Girl Guides had formed recently in Great Britain, modeled on the worldwide youth movement the Boy Scouts. Daisy had become involved with the young women's organization during her time in Europe, and she liked their emphasis on physical fitness, camping, nature study, first aid, and friendship among girls and women around the world.

  During the short year that Daisy had worked with the Girl Guides, she felt that, at long last, she was doing something meaningful. She would be turning fifty-two soon and didn't intend to waste her remaining years. Daisy wanted to bring the Girl Guides to her home country, the United States of America. Long before she sailed for New York, her mind had buzzed with thoughts about how to expand the organization.

  Whenever she thought of a new idea, she hurried to her stateroom. Polly Poons, her parrot, squawked in its cage as Daisy picked up her pen and uncapped her bottle of ink. She wrote quickly in her large and loopy penmanship, stringing phrases together like the luminous pearls on her necklace, trying to capture the essence of Girl Guides on paper: Loving one another ... lifelong friendship ... helping others ... spreading goodwill ... promoting peace. Daisy then added more names to her growing list of friends and influential people to contact once she reached the United States.

  She also reread sections of the Girl Guide handbook, How Girls Can Help to Build Up the Empire, for inspiration. All across Great Britain, Daisy knew, girls were beginning to meet regularly in their villages or city neighborhoods in small groups called patrols. She had even started three patrols herself. Each patrol, or troop, was named for a flower and had an adult leader. The girls wore uniforms and earned badges with their friends. Daisy loved being part of it all!

  With the handbook tucked under her arm, Daisy set off to find General Sir Robert Baden-Powell in the ship's dining room. They had met the year before, in 1911. B-P, as he was called by his close friends and family, was a famous war hero in Great Britain, where Daisy lived most of the time. To Daisy, he was a new friend and a fellow artist who loved children as much as she did.

  During his final years as a military man, B-P had founded the Boy Scouts in Great Britain. The organization was so popular that other countries were embracing it too, and B-P was at the start of an international tour to meet new Boy Scouts around the world.

  Much to B-P's surprise, thousands of young British girls had written him and asked to join Boy Scouts. B-P felt strongly that there should be two separate groups, one for boys and one for girls. So in 1910 he asked his sister, Agnes Baden-Powell, to head a new organization they called the Girl Guides.

  Daisy Gordon Low had offered to help Agnes Baden-Powell. In less than a year's time, Daisy had started Girl Guide troops in Scotland and in London, England, where she maintained homes.

  Daisy crossed the Atlantic between England and New York on the SS Arcadian several times until the ship was converted to a troop carrier during World War I. In 1917, a German torpedo tore into the ship and sank it. Ian Boyle/www.simplonpc.co.uk

  She could hardly contain her enthusiasm as her ship docked in New York. While visiting there and in New Jersey, she talked nonstop about the Girl Guides to her friends and relatives. Then Daisy boarded a train for her hometown, Savannah, Georgia.

  Daisy was a small woman, but she had the force of a hurricane, and her family and friends knew from experience that she would stir up their daily lives in delightful, unpredictable, and sometimes exasperating ways whenever she returned home. Soon, everyone would learn that Daisy planned to launch the Girl Guides movement in Savannah. But this time, the "hurricane" intended to shake up not just her hometown but the entire country. Daisy had no doubt in her mind that, with her help, the Girl Guides would take root across the United States.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Love and War Clouds

  DAISY'S PARENTS, Eleanor (Nellie) Kinzie and William (Willie) Washington Gordon II, met in the fall of 1853 while Nellie was attending Madame Canda's French School in New York City. One of her friends was Eliza Gordon, a shy girl from Savannah, Georgia. Eliza had two brothers, George and Willie, who were enrolled at nearby Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Sometimes, George escorted his sister and her friends to the opera.

  Another classmate of Nellie's, Flo Sheffield, lived in New Haven. Flo's parents invited Nellie and Eliza to stay with them over the Christmas holidays in 1853. It would have taken Nellie too long to travel back and forth by train to Chicago, Illinois, her hometown. The three close friends were excited to be together between school terms. They could shop in New York City, go to plays, and enjoy parties under the supervision of Flo's parents. And Eliza's brothers, Willie and George, were staying nearby with cousins, so they would all visit one another.

  When Willie came to call on the Sheffields, eighteen-year-old Nellie was not impressed with him. She wrote later that Willie "looked just like a Methodist parson," meaning that he seemed too quiet and reserved. Still, she agreed to let Willie show her around the Yale campus.

  At the top of a stairwell in the Yale library, Nellie peered down a shiny, curved wooden banister. She let Willie walk ahead and waited until he reached the bottom of the stairs. Then her tomboy side took over. She slid down the banister, petticoats and skirt aflutter, and landed at Willie's feet. The impetuous act stole the heart of the surprised young Southern gentleman.

  Nellie Kinzie was born in Chicago at a time when the young state of Illinois was still part of the "Wild West." Chicago's streets were dirt; the sidewalks were made of wood, and so they were called boardwalks. Only about three thousand people lived there. Out on the prairie nearby, there were wolves, huge herds of buffalo, and other wild animals.

  Daisy's mother, Eleanor (Nellie) Lytle Kinzie, was born in 1835. This photograph was taken when she was in her early twenties. Girl Scouts of the USA-JGLB

  Before coming to Chicago, Nellie's father had been a trapper and an Indian agent at Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin. He was also a silversmith by trade. As an agent, John Kinzie met with many Native American tribes on behalf of the federal government, and he was well respected by the Winnebago, Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawa.

  Later, Nellie's father became a bank president, a founder of the Chicago Historical Society, and a toll collector for the Illinois and Michigan Canal. He also helped discover the Ontonagon copper mine in Michigan. Nellie's mother, Juliette Kinzie, published several books about their adventures in the wilderness, which was an unusual accomplishment for a woman at that time.

  The Kinzie family lived in a log house near the Chicago River where it emptied into Lake Michigan. They had six sons and one daughter. As a result, Nellie was loved and totally spoiled. She was often allowed to "steal the show" and be the center of attention.

  Like the Kinzies, the Gordons were well-established citizens in their community. They lived in a large house that faced a wide boulevard shaded by oaks. Willie's father, William Washington Gordon I, had been the mayor of Savannah and was one of the builders of the Central Railroad and Canal Company. When Willie finished his schooling at Yale, he was expected to return to Savannah.

  After their Christmastime meeting, Nellie and Willie began exchanging letters detailing their growing fondness for each other. As Willie Gordon got to know Nellie and learned about her unique upbringing, he fell deeply in love with her. She was different from everyone in his quiet, predictable family. Like her mother, Nellie
was a writer. She saved many of the letters she received, kept a diary, and would eventually write a book about her family's history, which she later passed on to her children. During her courtship with Willie, Nellie wrote to a friend, "I found that I really care more for him [Willie] than for anyone I had ever met."

  Daisy's maternal grandmother, Juliette Kinzie, drew this view of the family's home on the north side of the Chicago River, a short distance from Lake Michigan. It was built in the 1780s by Chicago's first non-native settler. Author's collection

  Years after that first encounter in New Haven, Nellie and Willie became engaged. But before setting a wedding date, they agreed to a compromise on two important issues. Willie was a Presbyterian and Nellie was an Episcopalian, but he agreed to join her church. And Nellie vowed not to criticize slavery, because, after their marriage, she would be living in the South.

  In the mid-1800s, the economics, ideals and morals, and ways of life differed greatly between the Northern and Southern states. Like most Northerners, Nellie's parents and other relatives favored the growth of cities and depended more on trade than on agriculture. Most Southerners preferred a rural, agricultural life, based on farms and plantations that produced tobacco, cotton, and other field crops. An army of slaves did most of the labor for the larger landholders. After college, Willie became a partner in a Savannah cotton business, and like many Southern businessmen, he owned slaves.

  The North opposed slavery; the South supported it. Leaders on both sides worried about how the issue of slavery would be handled in unsettled territories, since pioneers and explorers were pushing westward. Willie and Nellie were well aware of these differences between the regions.

  Nonetheless, they were married on December 21, 1857. The newlyweds moved into the Gordon house in Savannah, where they lived with Willie's widowed mother, Sarah.