Girl Scouts and their leaders, to the number of 89,864, were in 1920
organized in every State, and in Hawaii, Porto Rico, and Alaska. There
are troops in 1,400 cities, and local councils in 162 places. This
represents a tremendous growth since the founding by Mrs. Juliette Low
in March, 1912, of a handful of enthusiastic "Girl Guides" in Savannah,
Ga. In 1915 the growth of the movement warranted its national
incorporation; so headquarters were established in Washington, D. C.,
and the name changed to Girl Scouts, Incorporated. In 1916 the
headquarters were removed to New York, and are now located at 189
Lexington Avenue.
From the start the organization has been nonsectarian and open to all
races and nationalities. Through the International Council the Girl
Scouts are affiliated with the Girl Guides of England and all parts of
the British Empire, and similar organizations in other parts of the
world.
At the 1920 meeting of the international conference at London, reports
were received from Italy, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Portugal, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Brazil,
Argentina, Japan, China, and Siberia, as well as from all parts of the
British Empire, and the United States.
From a membership of 9,769 in January, 1918, the girl scouts grew to
89,864 in 1921, at the rate of nearly 10 to 1 in three years. The
greatest relative growth was in 1918, when the membership grew fourfold.
During 1919 the increase over the preceding year was more than
two-thirds, while in 1920 the relative increase was one-third. The
details are as shown in the accompanying table.
This growth is due to a spontaneous demand of community after community
for scouting for girls, and not to deliberate propaganda on the part of
the national headquarters. The reasons for it are therefore to be sought
in the activities and methods themselves, which make such widespread
appeal.