Founding Women in Girl Scouting

Sarah Louise Arnold (1859-1943)

Early Life

Born to Jonathan and Abigail Arnold, Sarah Louise Arnold was the eleventh of fifteen children. She grew up in Abington Massachusetts and immediately proved to be an exceptional child. Her father nicknamed her 'the little leaven that leavened the whole lump." However, Sarah was never pampered of spoiled at home. She excelled at school, reading Latin by the age of eleven and graduating from high school at thirteen. After high school she spent two years studying at Bridgewater Normal School.

Career

Once she finished her schooling, Sarah Louise Arnold became a teacher in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. At 29, she became the supervisor of primary schools in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in 1894, at the age of thirty-five, she was called to the Boston Public Schools to be a supervisor there. She earned her A.M. from Tufts College and was awarded Doctor of Education by Rhode Island State. Her passion was teaching English. She illustrated a method of teaching children to read in several textbooks such as; See and Say, With Pencil and Pen, The Mastery of Works, and Stepping Stones to Literature. Sarah also wrote a number of articles for leading newspapers. She was a member of the corporation which founded Simmons College and was named the first Dean. She held this position for twenty years. She attached importance to the study and training of the individual student. She wished Simmons to send forth the finest type of young women as a leader in their fields. She was a gifted speaker for the college. Until 1910, Sarah served as director of the School of Household Economics. From 1902-1924 she held a position on the Board of Governors of the Women's Education and Industrial Union. During World War II, Herbert Hoover (then, the Secretary of the Food Administration) was looking for someone to help educate the public on food conservation. Alvin T. Fuller (the Governor of Massachusetts) said "We'll send the best we have in Massachusetts... Dean Arnold." She spent the year as a lecturer and consultant, giving talks to women's clubs, schools, and other public meetings. Throughout her lifetime she served on many committees including; The Lunch Department of the Bureau for Vocational Advice and Appointment, the Massachusetts State Board of Education, she was the first woman trustee of the Massachusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, and she was a trustee of the Nasson Institute (now Nasson College) of Springvale, Maine. She coordinated education for women on the job and in the classroom in a number of professional and industrial fields.

Girl Scouts

Helen Storrow of Boston Massachusetts interested Sarah in Girl Scouting and convinced her to attend the National Convention at Savannah. She became a member of the National Board of Girl Scouts and, in 1925, she was elected National President of the Girl Scouts of America. Sarah Louise Arnold believed that girls should be trained for self-support, as well as for useful and needed service to the country. She became an honorary vice-president and continued so until her death. Her last gift to Girl Scouts was a little volume of poems called "The Way of Understanding", which was written for Girl Scout leaders. She describes the book of poems with this intent; this book "has a voice for all who watch the eagerness of Youth asking to be led."

Her Legacy: Mrs. Herbert Hoover, a close friend of Sarah Louise Arnold, describes her contributions to Girl Scouting, "Her wisdom in practical affairs is rare; rarer still is her spirit of high idealism and her ability to express it it words. Tempered always is her seriousness, by just the right amount of humor. Inexhaustible is her fund of quaint stories, each emphasizing the point she wishes to make." Her dedication to education and girl scouts have influenced and inspired many young generations.

Sources:

• The Colonel Mariam E. Perry Goll Archives. Manuscript Collection MS 64.
• The Girl Scout Museum at Cedar Hill, Waltham.
• "Dean Arnold's Book for Leader." The Girl Scout Leader. February. 1934: 19.
• "Sarah Louise Arnold." The Simmons Review. May. 1945: 1-3.
• "Little Leavan." The Simmons Review. Fall 1952: 15-16.

Marie Gaudette (1894-1966)

Early Life

She was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts into a farming family. She spent her childhood exploring nature. The family moved to Providence, Rhode Island later in her childhood. Marie had one brother and one sister. They lost both their parents when Marie was only fourteen. Marie had to work as a jeweler to support her family. She had limited free time, but she continued her education at night studying at English High School for four years.

Girl Scouts

She came to the Girl Scout in 1925 while honoring a park museum commitment, training girls at a camp in Kingston, Rhode Island. She came,not liking camping, but filling in as a substitute for another guide who could not make it. She arrived at Camp Hoffman a day early and found herself helping Kit Hammett clean the latrines. She was first a teacher of nature in leadership courses, then a troop leader, and then a nature counselor at camp. She served as a staff member to the Girl Scouts and later as the council's executive director. In 1935, Marie joined the National Staff of Girl Scouts as a nature advisor. She became well known through her writing, her training, and her talks. She had a gift of making people want to learn. Over the course of her Girl Scout career, she met many foreign Girl Guides and kept a correspondence with all of them. She had a gift a of music and created many song that Girl Scouts still sing today such as 'God has Created a New Day' and 'Wind, Wind, Heather Gypsy'. Marie designed a cartoon known as Miss Gussie who was the troop leader of Troop 13. Girls and leaders all over the country would identify with Miss Gussie as she tackled real life problems. She started a small building known as 'The Treasure Chest' where girls could bring caterpillars, frogs, and other live things so they could observe them, understand how they lived, and then let them go. She led fascinating nature walks and treated every piece of life with the greatest care. In 1958, Marie wrote a booklet entitled The Trees of Macy for people to take on her nature walks. She was known as "Big Chief" to hundreds of Girl Scout campers in Rhode Island and "Miss Gussie" to her Girl Scout Leader magazine readers. She suffered a stoke in 1957 and retired from the National Staff in 1958. She continued her involvement for ten years until her death in 1966. The Quiet Place on the Macy Hill at Edith Macy Conference Center was established in her memory to serve the purpose of "the peaceful enjoyment of the out-of-doors." Donations in Marie's memory were also used to establish the Marie Gaudette Library.

Career

Her love of flowers brought her to the Park Museum of Natural History where she went from secretary to director. Within two years at the museum she was teaching children's classes at the museum and speaking at local schools. She co-authored the booklet Growing Things with Dorothea Spellman. Marie became the director of the Roger William Natural History Museum in Providence. Later in life she became handicapped, but made the best of life in her wheel chair. She continued to write, serve as a consultant to Macy, and to share her wisdom and knowledge of all who sought her out.

Sources

• Clem, Ruth E. "Marie's Gift to Us."
• The Girl Scout Museum at Cedar Hill, Waltham.
• "Marie E. Gaudette." The Book of Memory Girl Scouts of the USA.
• "Marie Gaudette: Girl Scouting's First Lady of the Outdoors." GSUSA-NHPC. 1994.
• "Women in History; The Intrepid Marie Gaudette." Girl Scout Leader. Summer. 1982: 16-17.

Augusta B. Hartt (1872-1961)

Early Life

Augusta B. Hartt was born to a successful business man, John L. Batchelder, and a high-spirited, young housewife. She had two older brothers and three brothers younger than her. Augusta's love for the outdoors and her interest in travel were cultivated by her father. Her hobbies included; tennis, horseback riding, and dancing. She also played piano. She attended Miss Bar's private school in Boston where she was attracted to literature, history, and music.

Family Life

She was married to her childhood friend and neighbor, Arthur W. Hartt. Although they had no children, they opened their home to many guests. Together they traveled the world to places where white women rarely penetrated. Augusta was a fearless and joyful traveler. They have visited Japan, Korea, China, Burmali, Ceylon, and India (and more).

Career

She had a great love for the outdoors. She camped and canoed through Maine, traveled with pack-horses across the Canadian Rockies, and hiked in the Sierras. She used nature to renew her soul. She was an active citizen and had experience with committee work in Brookline, the Northeastern Federation, the State, and on National Boards.

Girl Scouts

During World War I Augusta Hartt became interested in helping with the war effort. There were many idle, and enthusiastic hands awaiting a program where they could help and serve their fellow men. This drew her into girl scouting. She joined a class for the instruction of girl scout leaders and started a troop in the Brookline High School of twenty-four girls in order to help with the war effort. This troop expanded to cover many interest areas like camping and enjoying the outdoors. Augusta was one of the first leaders to stimulate interest in Senior Scout because she did not want the work of all the older girls to be lost when they graduated. She began the Bugle and Drum Corps, a former branch of the Girl Scouts, which provided the girls an opportunity to enjoy music an activity. In 1919 when the National Executive Board of Girl Scouts met they gave permission to the state of Massachusetts to govern itself. Helen Storrow was named first commissioner and Mrs. Hartt was named the deputy commissioner. When Mrs. Storrow resigned in 1920, Augusta succeeded her. Augusta Hartt was on a committee which designed a new constitution for the National Girl Scouts, which was accepted. She attended the World Conference in England where she received special honors from Lady Baden-Powell, the chief guide. She opened her estate to the girls of Massachusetts, which was called, "Rockwood." It provided the girls with ten to twelve acres in Brookline with fields, tennis courts, and basket-ball grounds. She set up a council ring and a lean-to, tables, benches, fireplaces, and other facilities.

Her Legacy

Augusta B. Hartt was hard-working, patient, and open-minded, never to busy to work out the problems that the girl scouts might have. Her only regret is not spending enough time with the girls. She will be remembered as one of the founders of Massachusetts Girl Scouts.

Sources

• "Augusta Batchelder Hartt." The Trail Maker. December. 1924: 6-11.
• The Girl Scout Museum at Cedar Hill, Waltham.
• Storrow, Helen O. "The Standard of the State Commissioner."

Catherine Tilley "Kit" Hammett (1902-1998)

Early Life

Catherine Hammett was born in Newport, Rhode Island. She was one of six children. She was restless as a child, always looking for ways to spend her time. As a teen she joined the "Busy Bees" group at her family's United Congregational Church.

Girl Scouts

As a young girl she found herself in the middle of the home front effort of World War Two. She said "all the boys in high school were either thinking of going into the navy or the army, and we felt left out." Thus, the girls of her town began the first Girl Scout troop in Rhode Island in order to help with the war. They became actively involved in drills, parades, victory gardens, rolling bandages, and selling victory bonds. Not only did they help with the war effort, but they also found time to enjoy camping, hiking, and to play games. In December 1917 she was the first girl in the Red Clover Troop in Newport to step forward to be pinned as a new Girl Scout member. That troop was the first to be registered with the National Girl Scout Headquarters. In 1926 she attended the historic Fourth International Conference at Camp Edith Macy where she met Juliette Low and Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. This inspired her to continue her Girl Scouting career as an adult. In the early 1930s she worked with Mariner troops to produce the Mariner Girl Scout Handbook. She joined the National Girl Scouts of America at the age of thirty four. As a staff member she wrote many books about camping for the American Camping Association and Girl Scouts, including her most famous piece of writing, Your Own Book of Campcraft, which published over a million copies. Near the end of World War II she was sent by GSUSA to serve overseas with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in Middle East refugee camps. She worked in Greece, Egypt, and Palestine, helping to provide camping experience for children as part of their total rehabilitation. She was sent to Greece where she was responsible for the recreational and vocational training of 50,000 girls and boys, who, with their families, had fled wartime German occupation. Following the war she helped to reestablish the Greek Girl Guide Association. She reminisces, saying "It was their first chance in years to laugh together." The Greek minister of welfare cited "her devotion, belief, and precarious contribution" and thanked "the American girl whose help and encouragement contributed so much to the Children's Camps of 1945." Upon her return she became a co-owner and director of Derrybrook in Vermont, a training center for outdoor living. In the 1950s, she directed "Camping Caravan", a traveling training unit that covered forty-six states reaching more than fourteen thousand adult and senior Girl Scouts. She was the director of Edith Macy Training Center from 1962 until her 'official' retirement from national staff in 1967. As a specialist of the US State Department she assisted Girl Guide associations in Latin America with camp development and training. Upon her return, she co-authored the handbook for Girl Guides of Latin America. In 1976, she conducted workshops on outdoor activities in England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. In 1993, she became a member of the Olave Baden-Powell Society, an international group of people who promote Girl Guiding worldwide. In a letter from the National President and National Executive Director Kit is thanked for her contributions to Girl Scouting. "Author, educator, humanitarian, and innovator, Kit Hammett was the personification of the Girl Scout Promise and Law."

Career

She was a graduate from Rogers High School. In 1923, she graduated from the Boston School of Physical Education (Boston Bouve), now Northeastern University. Immediately after her completion of her schooling, she taught physical education at Brown University. She has served the American Camping Association as New York chapter president, board secretary, program committee chair, and president. She was a past president of a local AARP, a volunteer at the Newport Hospital Auxiliary, the Point Association, and many senior citizens groups. She was also active in her church up until her death in 1998. Kit was named Woman of the Year in 1978 by the Middletown Girl Scout Neighborhood. In 1996, she was inducted to the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1996. She said that Girl Scouting has given her 'more than [she] can measure.' She said, "I wouldn't give anything for the early days-those pioneer in the profession days- and for the many wonderful opportunities that the Girl Scout organization has given me. Sixty-five great years."

Sources

• "Kit Hammett to Be Inducted into Rhode Island Hall of Fame." GSUSA News. ed. March/April 1996.
• "Catherine Tilley "Kit" Hammett, 96; international, local Girl Scout pioneer." The Providence Sunday Journal. August 30, 1998.
• "Women in History, Kit Hammett's Remarkable Career. Girl Scout Leader. c. 1938.
• Girl Scout History Museum at Cedar Hill
• Murphy, Corinne, and Judith Wechsler. "People to Remember, Catherine Hammett." HQ Newsletter. GSUSA. c. 1992.

Helen Osborne Storrow (1864-1944)

Early Life

Helen was born September 22, 1864 in Auburn, New York. Her father, David Munson Osborne was a well to do manufacturer of agricultural equipment. Her mother, Eliza Wright, raised Helen and her older siblings, sister, Mrs. Fred Harris and brother, Thomas Mott Osborne in the Quaker tradition.

Knowing a little about Helen's grandmother and mother it becomes easy to understand why Helen was so passionately involved in charitable causes and Girl Scouts. In 1848, her grandmother, Martha, along with a few women, organized a woman's rights convention to demand women voting rights. Martha continued to write about women's rights in a magazine called "the Nation"

Her mother, Eliza, married William Lloyd Garrison, Jr., son of the Boston abolitionist. During her life she entertained others prominent in the women's suffrage movement-Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard.

School

At the age of eleven, Helen was sent to boarding schools. Her favorite was Miss Katherine Howard' School in Springfield MA. It was not the type of school that promoted the love of the outdoors. That would come later in Helen's life. She did become interested in music and spent a time studying abroad in Germany. She later graduated from Smith College.

Family Life

She met her future husband while hiking on a mountain path near Zermatt, Switzerland in the summer of 1883. But her future husband felt that a man should be able to support a wife before asking her to marry, so their engagement was not announced until 1891, nine years later. He was 28 and Helen was 27.

In 1895 they bought land in Lincoln, Ma. Today the property is home to the Carroll School. It was ten years before they built their home. It became a place for entertaining people from all walks of life and the perfect setting for supporting social causes, the arts, and especially Girl Scouts.

They had one child, a son, James Jackson Storrow III. Although they wanted more children they were not able to. Her son's friends became 'adopted' children often referring to Helen and her husband as Aunt & Uncle.

Career

1913- Before Helen became involved in the Girl Scout movement she focused her energies on founding the Women's City Club, becoming its first president. Her dream was for this organization to become a place for women of all backgrounds to meet and discuss issues.

1917- Helen was appointed president of the War Service Committee. This was the beginning of World War I and women across the country were asking what they could do for the country. The Girl Scout movement became a prefect avenue for the women of America and troops began forming in earnest. (see Girl Scouts)

1931- As a memorial to her late husband who was a strong supporter of the Charles River Basin Project Helen donated one million dollars for the creation of a park along the Charles River.

Girl Scouts

No one is quite sure how Helen became involved in the Girl Scout movement, whether it was after meeting Juliette Low in 1915 or when a couple Boston troop leaders were looking for someone who was fond of girls, the outdoors and education looked to Helen Storrow to fill that need.

She began by organizing leader-training classes in her home in Lincoln. Topics ranged from nutrition to handicrafts, safety to outdoor skills. In 1917, the Windsor school offered their school as a site for leader-training classes. A couple years later the classes were moved to Mrs. Storrow's property on the cape; Long Pond, Plymouth. Long Pond became a model for many camps that were being formed across America.

As chairman of the executive committee of Massachusetts Girl Scout, Inc., Helen Storrow was instrumental in securing Cedar Hill for the Girl Scouts by guaranteeing financial support for the first year. In 1951, the mansion she worked to preserve and modify for the girl scouts was torn down. In its location you will find a stone bearing the following inscription; "To the memory of Cornelia Warren who gave her home and of Mrs. Helen Storrow who gave of herself and her money to make Cedar Hill live.

Over the next 30 years her involvement would grow from leader trainer to chairman of the Executive Committee and eventually, chairman of the World Committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

Shortly after becoming chairman of the World Association Helen offered to provide a gathering-place in Switzerland for girls from all over the world. Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland opened in July 1832.

As recognition for her dedication and service to Girl Scouts worldwide, Lady Baden-Powell presented her the "Silver Fish" award. This award is given to those who have contributed the most to scouting. In this country only two others have received this award; Mrs. Juliette Low and Mrs. Arthur W. Choate.

Sources

• Helen O. Storrow: Friend of Scouting, The Trail Maker
• Women in History, Girl Scout Leader/Spring 1985
• The Compass, Volume 11, Number 1, Winter 1999, published by the Carroll School, Baker Bridge Rd. Lincoln, MA 01773
• Massachusetts Girl Scout BULLETIN, Helen O. Storrow Memorial Issue - Summer 1945
• Past Times & Places - Helen Osborne Storrow: A profile in giving by Loraine Ash, The Beacon Hill Times, May 23, 2000
• Helen Osborne Storrow (1864-1944) By Leonard Ware

Other Possible Women to Research

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY NOT BE ENOUGH INFORMATION ON THE WOMEN LISTED. PLEASE CHECK SOURCES BEFORE CHOOSING A WOMAN.

• Estefina Aldaba-Lim
• Lady Baden-Powell
• Anne Hyde Choate
• Andree Clarck
• Alice Conway Carney
• Judy Van Vliet Cook
• Birdsall Otis Edey
• Marie Gauddette
• Lillian Gilbreth
• Lou Henry Hoover
• Dorris Hough
• Juliette Gordon Low
• Edith Carpenter Macy
• Goldie McGirt
• Jane Deeter Rippin
• Oleda Schrottky
• Helvi Sipilia
• Gloria Scott
• Janet Tobitt
• Marguerite Twohy