LOW, JULIETTE GORDON GIRL SCOUT FOUNDER (c) By Polly Guerin

Dear Juliette: Who would ever have expected that during a time when women were restrained by society, that you would break out of the Victorian Age with its limits and social order to emerge as a woman determined to succeed, the founder of the Girl Scouts of the United States in 1912. Known as “Daisy” most of her life, Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon was born on October 31, 1860, in Savannah, Georgia. Young Juliette spent an idealistic childhood in her large handsome English Regency house, the second of six children of William Washington Gordon and Eleanor Kinzie Gordon. However, her life was not devoid of a physical handicap and disappointment. Juliette had her own cross to bear and struggled with impaired hearing, which gradually worsened. Nor did back problems or cancer keep her from participating in life. Juliette did not let these obstacles deter her determination to exert herself and to search for “something meaningful” to do with her life.

A SERENDIPITOUS MEETING

Juliette developed a lifetime interest in the arts. She wrote poems; sketched, wrote and acted in plays and even became a skilled painter and sculptor, all this while enjoying the social benefits afforded a privileged young woman of Gilded Age. Her horizons were broadened when she married William Low, an Englishman and the couple moved to England. Unfortunately, the marriage disintegrated and divorce was eminent. Taking herself on a world tour, she settled in Paris to pursue her interest in sculpture. However, the hand of fate had other plans for Juliette. Her search for “something meaningful” ended when she met Sir Robert (later Lord) Baden-Powell, a former English General and war hero, who started the Boy Scout movement in 1908 and Girl Guides in 1910.

A MEANINGFUL LIFE

Sir Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes had a tremendous impact on Juliette and the new youth movement. This movement was exactly what Juliette Gordon Low had been searching for. She realized that young women in the United States were missing a wonderful opportunity. When she returned to Savannah she immediately called a friend (a distant cousin, saying, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and the entire world, and we’re going to start it tonight.” On March 12, 1912, Juliette gathered eighteen girls to register the first troop of American Girl Guides, which was renamed the Girl Scouts the following year.

CHANGING THE ROLE OF GIRLS

One need only recall that the significance of the inauguration of the Girl Scouts in 1912 had wide significance as it was a time when young girls’ education as well as their futures were limited. An organization such as the Girl Scouts was especially important as it fostered and nurtured the development of a new, stronger and motivated young woman determined to succeed beyond the restraints of society. This was clearly evident when World War I loomed that women realized that their role was a vital one in which they would participate as value citizens. This was the beginning of youth movement or a youth quake that permeated throughout the world.

GIRL SCOUT RECOGNITION

The Girl Scouts is the largest educational organization for girls in the world and has influenced the more that 50 million girls and women who have belonged to it. GSUSA uses the Scout principles developed by Sir Robert Baden-Powell to build self-esteem and to teach values such as honesty, fairness, courage, compassion, character, sisterhood, confidence, and citizenship through activities including camping, community service, learning first aid, and earning numerous badges by acquiring other practical skills. Girl Scouts welcome girls with disabilities at a time when they were excluded from many other activities. This idea was an original by Juliette, who suffered debilitating deafness, back problems and cancer in her lifetime. When she died on January 18, 1927, Juliette Low had inspired the founding of the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund. This organization uses it money to send American girls to other countries and to bring other girls to visit the United States.
THE JULIETTE LOW BIRTHPLACE IS A NATIONAL CENTER IN SAVANNAH, GEORGIA IN THE ELEGANTLY RESTORED GORDON FAMILY HOUSE WHICH REFLECTS MANY ORIGINAL FAMILY FURNISHINGS AND SOME OF JULIETTE’S ARTWORK. www.girlscouts.org/birthplace