1919-2-8 Boy Scouts of America

.8th February 1910: Boy Scouts of America, William D. Boyce in Washington D.C. > .

Boyce was born in Pennsylvania, and became a successful newspaper publisher who eventually settled in Illinois. By the early 1900s he had successfully delegated the day-to-day running of his many businesses, and focused his own energies on financing and participating in foreign expeditions.

In 1909, while undertaking a trip to Europe ahead of a safari in British East Africa, Boyce stopped in London. Legend says that he got lost on foggy street, and was assisted by an unknown member of the Scout movement that had grown following the publication of the book Scouting for Boys by British Army officer Robert Baden-Powell. The unknown Scout refused a tip, saying he was only doing his duty, and soon afterwards took Boyce to meet with Baden-Powell himself.

In reality the day wasn’t foggy, the scout only helped him cross the road to his hotel, and Boyce didn’t meet with Baden-Powell. Nevertheless he was still so impressed by the encounter that he obtained a copy of Scouting for Boys to read while in Africa, and cancelled his planned round-the-world voyage so that he could return to London after the expedition to learn more about the organization.

On his return to America, Boyce was inspired to organize the Boy Scouts of America. After discussions with Colin H. Livingstone, a railroad executive who would go on to become the first national president of the new organization, Boyce agreed to incorporate it in Washington D.C. The men hoped that this would send a message of the national scope of the BSA. Although the organization’s numbers have fallen in recent years, it still has an estimated 2.2 million members.

1908-1-24 "Scouting for Boys" ..  

1910-2-8 Boy Scouts of America ..