Girl Scouts praised as "wonderful experience" by senior who prospered by its values

On Mar. 12, 1912, widowed socialite Juliette Gordon Low founded the American Girl Guides — later the Girl Scouts — with 18 girls in Savannah, Ga. Its mission: Building self-reliance and citizenship.

In 1917, the first African-American troop was started. The Girl Scouts stayed segregated until a strong ’50s integration push led the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1956 to call it “a force for desegregation.”

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Barbara Wilbourne, 82, of Savannah, joined one of the first African-American troops there in 1941.
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“Before 1943, Savannah was segregated, and Afro-American Girl Scouts did not exist,” she said. “I am not sure why a change was made, but I was invited to join Troop 61 with about 12 other Afro-American girls. We were excited to become a part of the group.
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“Scouting was a wonderful experience for me. With God, family and Girl Scouting, I have been helped to become the person I am today. Scouting experiences helped me to learn how to get along with people, develop good study habits and a deep love for God, and it helped me to become a good citizen and an understanding mother. I was able to complete my bachelor’s degree at Savannah State College with honors. I became an elementary school teacher in 1951 and a Girl Scout leader in 1952.”
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Today, the Girl Scouts is thought the largest educational organization for girls in the world, with 3.7 million members internationally.

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wfgodot said:

Let's try to concentrate on the overwhelmingly positive image of Scouting which the organization has built up in its one hundred years in existence. That is the purpose of this thread - to celebrate its positive values in the centennial year of its existence.

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