Girl Scouts Timeline
1912-1919

Overview | 1912-1919 | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | Today

Girl Scouts team up to preserve fruits and vegetables to prevent food shortages.

Jeannette Rankin, from Montana, was elected to Congress even before women were given the right to vote. Minimum wage laws were being passed and industrial safety codes enacted. The fox trot and tango were the hottest dance steps of the time. But the progressive energy of the country was changed in April 1917, when Germany sank three U.S. ships, and America entered World War I.

• On June 10, 1915 the organization was incorporated as Girl Scouts, Inc. under the laws of the District of Columbia



• During World War I, girls learned about food production and conservation, sold war bonds, worked in hospitals, and collected peach pits for use in gas mask filters.



• After the war came The Golden Eaglet, a feature film about Girl Scouting shown in theaters across the country, and The Rally (later called The American Girl), a monthly magazine for girls published by Girl Scouts.



• A troop for physically challenged Girl Scouts was established.



• Girls could earn more than 25 badges, including Child Nurse.



• The Executive Board inaugurated a fund raising plan to relieve the burden on Juliette Gordon Low, who had been financing operations on her own (she sold her extremely valuable necklace of rare and matched pearls to support the organization!).



• A National Director position was funded.



• Girl Scouts established a system of national training schools for leaders.



• By 1920, Girl Scouts was growing in its independence from the British Girl Guide example and developed its own uniform, handbook (Scouting for Girls), and its own constitution and bylaws, contained in the Blue Book of Rules for Girl Scout Captains.



• By 1920, there were nearly 70,000 Girl Scouts nationwide, including the territory of Hawaii.