by Donna LaHale

Created on: January 31, 2009

Sadly, the title of this topic tells us that we still know so little about the Girl Scouts, and that they continue to live in the shadow of their young male counterparts.

There is not an organization called the Girl Scouts of America. In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low, having returned from abroad and being inspired by the Girl Guides organization, started the Girl Scouts. She gathered 18 young women and began teaching them about their community, the world around them, and the things they could accomplish. The earliest Girl Scouts learned many of the things today's Scouts learncamping, hiking, food preparation, self-reliance and more.

In 1915, the organization incorporated in the District of Columbia as Girl Scouts, Inc. During this decade, the Board of Girl Scouts, Inc. established a fund raising plan for the organization. Up to that point, Juliette had been financing the organization on her own. Reports are that she sold a rare necklace to fund the early efforts of her organization.

Though segregated, Girl Scouts established the first African American troop in 1917. From the beginning, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America has maintained a focus on diversity, pluralism and advancing the causes of all girls. By 1920, there was an established troop for physically challenged girls. Quite progressive for their time!

In the mid 50s, Dr. Martin Luther King recognized the group as a "force for desegregation". The Girl Scouts continued to hold a core belief in inclusiveness and pluralism, and in 1975, elected their first African-American national President, Dr. Gloria Randall Scott. Scott had started her affiliation with the organization in 1953, when she joined a Junior Girl Scout troop.

Through the decades since inception, Girl Scouts have been actively supporting their communities and their country. During WWI, the Scouts collected scrap metal for recycling, and collected clothing for families abroad affected by the war. Today, their efforts range from stream cleanups to raising tolerance and the need for action in a global society. In 2003, for instance, Junior Troop 2635 from Maryland visited Capital Hill, armed with 80 copies of Ryan White's autobiography Ryan White: My Own Story. The message, that regardless disease, people should be treated equally.

Many argue the largest obstacle faced by GSUSA is lack of volunteers. I disagree. The largest obstacle is keeping girls interested through the peer pressure years of 5th, 6th and 7th grades. To combat this, the

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