Girl Scouts Timeline
1950s

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Left: Girl Scouts encourage international friendships. Right: Two Senior Girl Scouts prepare for a camping adventure.

Dr. Benjamin Spock's book, Baby and Child Care, about child-rearing techniques, transformed family dynamics. Television sets started to appear in every home. The "separate but equal" doctrine was applied to public education. Elvis Presley and rock-and-roll replaced Frank Sinatra and Big Band as the music of choice for teenagers. The Korean Conflict and the Cold War with the Soviet Union reminded Americans that peace was not to be taken for granted.

• The Girl Scout Movement was well-established as the decade started, with 1.5 million girls and adult volunteers. A special effort was made to include the daughters of migrant agricultural workers, military personnel, Native Americans, Alaskan Eskimos, and the physically challenged.



• Girl Scouts of the USA was re-incorporated in 1950 under a Congressional Charter.



• The March 1952 issue of Ebony magazine reported: "Girl Scouts in the South are making steady progress toward breaking down racial taboos."



• Bought in 1953 and later restored, the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, Georgia, was opened as a house museum and national program center for girls in October 1956.



• In November 1957, Girl Scouts of the USA moved its national headquarters to 830 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y., staying there until July 1992.