Thursday, February 08, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BSA

William Boyce. The Boy Scouts of America (which also uses the name Scouting/USA) was founded by Chicago publisher William Boyce on February 8, 1910. At that time in the US, there were several other loosely-structured outdoor-oriented youth organizations, some using the name "Boy Scout" and some using other names, and there were already a number of troops in existence using some variation of the British Scout program. Boyce's key contribution was to organize the BSA as a business. He incorporated the organization (in Washington, DC, rather than Chicago), recruited key youth professionals to design and operate the program, and he provided key funding for the infant organization.