| Boy Rangers of America | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Age range | 8—15 years | ||
| Headquarters | New York City | ||
| Country | United States | ||
| Founded | January 24, 1913 | ||
| Founder | Emerson Brooks | ||
| Chief Guide | Emerson Brooks | ||
The Boy Rangers of America was a Scouting program in the United States for boys ages 8 through 12. [1] [2] It was organized on January 24, 1913 in Montclair, New Jersey by Emerson Brooks. Although independent of the Boy Scouts of America, it was the precursor of the BSA's Cubbing program now known as Cub Scouting.
Trusty Tommy is a Ranger
Loyal true to every test,
Helpful to the needy stranger
Friendly, giving of his best.
Courteous to the girls he knows
Kind, a good turn every day
Obedient to his parents, too,
Cheerful, both in work and play
Thrifty, saving for a need
Brave, and not a faker
Clean in thought, in speech and deed
Reverent to his Maker.
How Kola (Hail, friend)
Be Trustworthy
Talk straight, think straight, live straight
As early as 1911, Ernest Thompson Seton, the Chief Scout of the BSA, had developed a program for the Boy Scouts of America named Cub Scouts of America that was never implemented. Chief Scout Executive James E. West felt that having BSA programs for younger boys under 12 would draw away boys from the core Scouting program. [3] Unofficial programs for younger boys started around this time, under names such as Junior Troops or Cadet Corps.
Emerson Brooks, a Boy Scout commissioner, started the Boy Rangers in 1913 and it came to the attention of the BSA. West encouraged further formation of the Boy Rangers of America, as an organization separate from the BSA, and they were incorporated in New York on March 6, 1918.
Boy Rangers were organized as a tribe of eight boys and an adult; up to six tribes would form a lodge. Rank levels were Paleface, Papoose, Brave, Hunter, Warrior and Hi-Pa-Nac. The programs used American Indian themes and the Great Laws were based on the BSA version of the Scout Law. The official publication was the magazine The Boy Ranger.
The BSA obtained the rights to Baden-Powell's The Wolf Cub Handbook in 1916 and used it in unofficial Wolf Cub programs starting in 1918. The BSA finally began some experimental Cubbing units in 1928 and in 1930 the BSA began registering the first Cubbing packs. Many Boy Ranger lodges converted to Cubbing and the Indian themes of the Boy Rangers were incorporated into early Cubbing programs.
Membership numbers are difficult to determine. Some sources state that "at its height" in the 1920s, the Boy Rangers had over 8,000 members in over 700 lodges throughout 47 states, [4] [5] while another states they had 1039 lodges in 1940. [6] When Emerson Brooks died in 1948, his obituary claimed "200,000 members in forty states and several foreign countries." [7]
The Boy Rangers mainly merged into the BSA with the birth of Cubbing in 1930. It was reported that Lewis Lawes became the president of the Boy Rangers in 1941. [8] Some lodges— such as the one formed in Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1926 —continued locally through the 1980s. [9] The Great Laws survive as a Cub Scout song that is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle . [10]
When Columbia Pictures produced the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the Boy Scouts of America refused to allow their name to be used. Columbia created a fictional Boy Rangers for the film with different uniforms. The same organization reappeared in the studio's Blondie in Society (1941).
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 762,000 youth participants. The BSA was founded in 1910; about 110 million Americans have participated in its programs. BSA became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
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Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a "Pack".
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), available to boys and girls from kindergarten through fifth grade, or 5 to 10 years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the five main BSA divisions. Cub Scouting is part of the worldwide Scouting movement and aims to promote character development, citizenship training, personal fitness, and leadership.
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Edward Urner Goodman was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organization's formative years of significant growth when the Cub Scouting and Exploring programs were established. He developed the BSA's national training center in the early 1930s and was responsible for publication of the widely read Boy Scout Handbook and other Scouting books, writing the Leaders Handbook used by Scout leaders in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. In the 1950s, Goodman was Executive Director of Men's Work for the National Council of Churches in New York City and active in church work.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA), one of the largest private youth organizations in the United States, has policies which prohibit those who are not willing to subscribe to the BSA's Declaration of Religious Principle, which has been interpreted by some as banning atheists, and, until January 2014, prohibited all "known or avowed homosexuals", from membership in its Scouting program. The ban on adults who are "open or avowed homosexuals" from leadership positions was lifted in July 2015.
Scouting in Puerto Rico was introduced in the 1920s, and has been serving both boys and girls in the island since then. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA), serves both boys and girls in different programs, while the Girl Scouts of the USA serves only girls in various levels.
James Edward West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Executive Secretary, soon renamed Chief Scout Executive, of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), serving from 1911 to 1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.
Joseph A. Brunton Jr. was a career professional for the Boy Scouts of America, and served the BSA National Council as the fourth Chief Scout Executive from 1960 to 1966.
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Lone Scouts of America (LSA) was a Scouting organization for American boys that operated from 1915 until it merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1924. The LSA was founded by W. D. Boyce, publisher of the Chicago Ledger and the Saturday Blade and one of the founders of the BSA. Boyce felt that the program of the BSA did not help the rural boy who could not find enough other boys to form a troop or a patrol. James E. West, the first Chief Scout Executive of the BSA, disagreed with Boyce's concept, believing that the 4-H program was fulfilling the role. After Boyce left the BSA, he started the Lone Scouts of America and incorporated it on January 9, 1915. Boyce became the executive officer or Chief Totem and Frank Allan Morgan became the editor of The Lone Scout. In October 1915, Boyce appointed all of his paperboys as members of the LSA and published the first issue of The Lone Scout magazine.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was inspired by and modeled on The Boy Scouts Association, established by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain in 1908. In the early 1900s, several youth organizations were active, and many became part of the BSA.
The Greater New York Councils (GNYC) is a local council of the Boy Scouts of America that serves the New York City area. GNYC has a unique organization in that it is sub-divided into borough councils, each of which is led by a borough executive. The borough councils are then divided into districts. Over five million young people have experienced Scouting through GNYC, since the council's inception in the 1920s.
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