Founding Women in Girl Scouting

NOTE: Girl Scouts from outside Patriots' Trail Council may earn our patches.  Order by calling 1-866-268-8653 or www.girlscoutshop.org

This patch created by Chrissie Long as a Girl Scout Gold Award project.

PLEASE SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING WOMEN. YOU MUST CONCENTRATE ON THAT ONE WOMAN FOR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS. ONCE YOU ARE FINISHED YOU HAVE THE OPTION OF GOING BACK THROUGH THE STEPS AND RESEARCHING ANOTHER OF GIRL SCOUT'S FOUNDING WOMEN. IF THERE IS A WOMAN WHO IS NOT ON THIS LIST, BUT HAS PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN GIRL SCOUTING, YOU ARE WELCOME TO RESEARCH HER TOO. CHOOSE FIVE OF THE FOLLOWING NINE ACTIVITIES INCLUDING THE ONE STARRED. (Click on a woman's name for a brief biography.)

• Sarah Louise Arnold
• Augusta B. Hartt
• Anne Hyde Choate
• Lou Henry Hoover
• Marie Dennett
• Juliette Low
• Marie Gaudette
• Edith Sinnett
• Catherine Tilley 'Kit' Hammett
• Helen O. Storrow

1. * Learn more about the woman you chose. Find out everything you can about her childhood, dreams, hobbies, family, career, etc. What were her interests? How did she become involved in Girl Scouting? How did she influence the Girl Scout community? How did she influence the world outside of Girl Scouting?
2. Find out more about the history of Girl Scouts. Make a time line of important events.
3. Design a poster or display relating the information you found in step one. Collect pictures, use bright colors, and attractive headlines that will draw people to learn more about the influential woman you are researching.
4. Perform a skit of a significant event, turning point, or a revelation in the life of the leading woman you chose, to your troop.
5. Present the information you found in the first step to your troop, a group of younger girls, or a group of people outside the Girl Scout community.
6. Concentrate on the role that your subject has played in Girl Scouting. What has she done to contribute to this organization? How has she shaped the Girl Scouting experience you know today? Research the woman you chose and create a presentation depicting her role in Girl Scouting.
7. Create a game such as a quiz, a puzzle, a board game, or any other sort or activity that highlights the important information from the life of your founding Girl Scout. Share this game or activity with your family, friends, or troop.
8. Take the time to visit the Girl Scout Museum at Cedar Hill or other local museums or archives that may have information on the woman you are researching.
9. What was life back at the time your woman lived? How were women treated? How did they dress? Did they work? What world events might have affected her life? Did women attend school? Put together a scrapbook of pictures, magazine clippings, and brief notes about the period of time she lived.