Girl Scouts of the USA history

In 1915, when the organization was incorporated in the United States, there were fifteen thousand members.

In 1916, Juliette Low adapted a newer version of the Girl Scout Handbook.

The names and descriptions for the badges come from the 1917 Girl Scout handbook.

Click on the thumbnails to see a selection of pages form the Georgia Historical Society’s copy of the 1920 handbook.

His wife had been president of the Girl Scouts since 1922, and this started the association of first ladies with the role of president or honorary president.

In 1923 Girl Scouts were organized into patrols, troops, local councils, and the National Council.

Spacious headquarters at 670 Lexington Avenue in New York City opened in 1924.

Lone Troops on Foreign Soil (later called USA Girl Scouts Overseas) registered its first Girl Scout troop in Shanghai, China, with 18 girls in 1925.

The World Camp of the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, a gathering of scouts from many different countries, met at Camp Edith Macy outside New York City in May 1926.

When she died on January 18, 1927 she inspired the founding of the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund.

Membership exceeded 200,000 in 1929, the year the organization first adopted a green uniform.

The first official African American troop in the South was founded in 1932 in Richmond, Virginia by Lena B. Watson and led initially by Lavnia Banks, a teacher from Armstrong High School.

In 1933, Josephine Groves Holloway founded unofficial African American troops in Tennessee.

1934: Philadelphia council holds first official Girl Scout cookie sale.

The fund-raising effort for which the Girl Scouts has been most well known was launched in 1936 when the first Girl Scout cookies were sold.

By 1940, the Brownie Scouts category for ages seven to ten was added.

In July 1942, 29 troop leaders from 15 states met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to take Wing Scout leadership training.

The name reached its current form, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, in 1947.

1950: Girl Scouts of the USA chartered by Congress.

Construction of a new, $3.7 million national headquarters on Third Avenue in New York began in June 1956.

In 1958 the Girl Scouts purchased a headquarters in New York City that was still its home at the end of the century.

In 1959, the Girl Scout council in North San Mateo County, California, was presented with an offer from United Airlines San Francisco Management Club President J. L. Burnside to start an aviation program for Senior Girl Scouts.

New York troops celebrated 50 years of scouting in March 1961 through 'Daisy Days' skill demonstrations.

Cookie sales continued to progress, reaching 58 million boxes in 1965.

Black Cadettes from low-income families camped in a Newark gymnasium, watched over by police, in 1966.

The original Girl Scout laws were reworded in 1972, for example, changing 'A Girl Scout is clean in thought, word, and deed' to a command to 'show respect for myself and others through my words and actions.' Leaders strove to combine self-realization with service in the girls' training.

Gloria D. Scott, an African American, was elected national president of Girl Scouts in 1975.

A total of 105 million boxes of Girl Scout cookies were sold in 1980.

Sales reached new heights in 1981, when United Air Lines bought two million shortbread Trefoil cookies for $50,000--packaging them in pairs for in-flight service.

The Daisy program for kindergarten girls was introduced in 1984.

New York: Girl Scouts of America, 1986.

In 1989, the group hired its first outside advertising agency (Chiat/Day/Mojo) to advertise a more active image.

After flirting with Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, and St Louis in 1991, the Girl Scouts organization decided to keep its headquarters in New York City.

In 1992, the Girl Scouts bought some Manhattan office space from Ted Turner, who ironically, had started his media empire in Atlanta.

Perry, Elizabeth Israels. "The Very Best Influence: Josephine Holloway and Girl Scouting in Nashville's African American Community." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 52 (1993): 73–85.

Connie Chung's 'Eye to Eye' television program aired an exposé on the distribution of funds from the Girl Scout cookie program in January 1994.

Seeking to reach their goal of nontraditional careers for women, the Girl Scouts in 1996 entered an agreement with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to encourage young women's achievement in math and science.

In 1998, the Girl Scouts hired Siegle & Gale to update its image through a brand identity program.

Two-thirds of women serving in Congress in 1999 were former scouts.

There were 2.7 million Girl Scouts in 2000.

In 2001 membership was 2.7 million Girl Scouts and 915,000 adults.

In 2004, Girl Scouts realigned its structure to prepare for the future growth and success of the organization.

In 2013 there were over 3.2 million Girl Scouts: 2.3 million girl members and 890,000 adult members in the United States.

In 2014, Girl Scouts launched Digital Cookie, through which Girl Scout Cookies were sold online by girls for the first time in the history of the iconic cookie program.