Scouting, Volume 78, Number 5, October 1990 Page: 12
74 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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6 CY SCOUTS os AMERICA
When Scouting
Battled a
Rival
The
Way
It Was
When the Boy Scouts
of America began in
1910, it wasn't the
only game in town.
The American Boy
Scouts was also
enrolling young boys
into its program. The
dispute as to which
group was the official
U.S. Scout movement
took 10 years and the
virtual kidnapping of
Sir Robert Baden-
Powell to resolve.
BY KEITH MONROE
. ANT TO BE A SCOUT? JOIN
the American Boy Scouts and get a free uniform!
In open rivalry with the Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica, a shrewdly-financed "American Boy Scouts"
enrolled thousands of boys in cities across the
nation from 1910 to 1920. The struggle made
headlines, embroiled men in clashes at public
meetings, and even led to a sort of kidnapping of
Sir Robert Baden-Powell in New York City.
Sir Robert, of course, had launched the Boy
Scout movement in England in 1907. Like wind-
borne seeds, Boy Scout patrols took root in three
South American countries, in numerous parts of
Europe, in most British dominions—and abun-
dantly in the United States.
Self-nominated American leaders wrote to Sir
Robert for commissions as Scoutmasters, and re-
ceived them. Others set up various "Boy Scout"
organizations to suit themselves, copying the
name without permission.
Among the most high-principled organizers
were local YMCA leaders, encouraged by their
national boys' work secretary, Edgar H. Robin-
son. He wrote them early in 1910:
The Boy Scouts will doubtless become the
largest boys' organization in Amer-
ica. This movement bids fair to sweep the
country... This national movement is not
organically related in any way to the
YMCA, but all possible cooperation is
being given... Begin at once to organize
your troops. Encourage their organiza-
tion under other auspices as well.
Another early organizer was a fast-moving
Chicago newspaper publisher, William D. Boyce,
who envisioned transforming his newsboys into
Scouts and using them to promote his newspa-
pers. In February 1910 he incorporated the "Boy
Scouts of America"—which meant that he owned
the name and insignia. Only Boyce's boys could
legally call themselves Boy Scouts of America.
Robinson quickly persuaded him to drop his
sales-promotion idea and instead back the BSA as
a national movement. But in May a giant figure
emerged as a competitor: William Randolph
Hearst, owner of a galaxy of big-city newspapers,
magazines, wire services, and feature syndicates.
Hearst was ambitious politically. He had served
two terms in Congress, had come close to being
elected mayor and governor, and was angling for
a presidential nomination.
Hearst announced that the American Boy
Scouts would be inaugurated May 9 at a banquet
in Manhattan's most splendid hotel, the Waldorf-
Astoria. Robinson went there uninvited.
Presiding was a "prominent business figure,"
James F. McGrath. (Only a few knew that he was
Hearst's confidential secretary.) McGrath spoke
eloquently of the new movement, which he said
would follow lines laid down by Baden-Powell.
When he paused, Robinson rose and asked po-
litely whether the organizers were aware that
friends of Baden-Powell had already incorpor-
ated the Boy Scouts of America.
Robinson was a man of presence—tall, lean,
athletic, with a handsome high-domed face.
McGrath, unable to ignore him, replied that ev-
eryone in the BSA would assuredly be welcome
to join forces with the bigger and better ABS, as
embodied by Hearst and the other leading citi-
zens on the dais (who included New York City's
superintendent of schools as well as three retired
generals and an executive of the huge Russell
Sage Foundation).
Robinson stayed on his feet. The name "Amer-
ican Boy Scouts" was unfortunate, he suggested,
in its close resemblance to "Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica." Was the name chosen because the organiza-
tion was to be promoted by the New York
American, the Boston American, Chicago Amer-
ican, and other American newspapers in the
Hearst empire?
Smiling, McGrath made no answer but instead
introduced Hearst himself, who handed
McGrath a $1,000 check to get the ABS moving,
and murmured the names of celebrities he said
were helping in this noble endeavor. He urged all
those present to help with cash or check. Many
did. Robinson left.
On June 21, as planned for months, more than
50 nationally-known educators and social workers
met and put their influence behind the BSA.
They named an executive committee to supervise
the One-rOOm "national (continued on page 61)
12
October 1990 Scouting
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 5, October 1990, periodical, October 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353666/m1/12/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.