Founded in 1912 in Savannah, Georgia, by visionary Juliette Gordon Lowe, Girl Scouts started with a membership of only 18 girls -- and a dream. Juliette dreamed of giving the United States "something for all the girls," an organization designed to bring girls out of their cloistered home environments to serve in their communities and experience open air. Within months, girl members were hiking through the woods in their ankle-lenght blue uniforms, playing basketball in a curtained-off-court, and going on camping trips. The following year saw the opening of a national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the publication of the first Girl Scout handbook, How Girls Can Help Their Country, which featured knot-tying, first-aid, and outdoor cooking instructions.

In 1917, the first Girl Scout troop for disabled girls was organized in New York City. When the United States entered World War I, Girls Scouts served their country on the home front, working in hospitals, growing vegetables, and selling defense bonds. After the war came The Golden Eaglet, a feature film about Girl Scouting shown in theaters across the country, and The American Girl, a popular magazine for young girls.

By the time Girl Scout membership reached 137,000 in 1926, the organization had its own national training center for Girl Scout leaders, Camp Edith Macy in upstate New York. Membership diversified in the twenties and thirties with the introduction of Black and Native American troops. The year 1934 saw the beginnings of Girl Scout cookie sales when Philadelphia Girl Scouts sold the first commercially baked Girl Scout cookies. With the coming of war in the early forties, Girl Scouts again served on the home front, collecting fat and scrap metal and growing Victory Gardens.

The post-war years brought the restoration of the Juliette Gordon Lowe Birthplace and its dedication as a national program center for girls in 1956 and the division of girl membership into the Brownie, Junior, Cadette and Senior Girl Scout age levels in 1963. Eco-Action, a nationwide environmental program, and the swearing-in of the first Black National President, Gloria D. Scott, were turning points of the seventies, followed in the eighties by the introduction of a younger age level, Daisy Girl Scouts, and a series of publications dealing with contemporary isues, such as child abuse, youth suicide, literacy and pluralism.

During the current decade, Girl Scouting experienced a renewed emphasis on physical fitness with the inauguration of a health and fitness national service project in 1994 and the Girl Scout sports initiative in 1996. Throughout its history, Girl Scouting has held on to its traditional values while maintaining a comtemporary outlook -- a dual focus expected to continue into the next century.

The information on this page came from Girl Scouts of the USA's web page.