Scouting Heritage

Merit Badge

Requirement 1

• Discuss with your counselor the life and times of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. Explain why he felt a program like Scouting would be good for the young men of his day. Include in your discussion how Scouting was introduced in the United States, and the origins of Boy Scouting and Cub Scouting under Baden-Powell.

Requirement 2A

Give a short biographical sketch of any TWO of the following, and tell of their role in how Scouting developed and grew in the United States prior to 1940.

1.Daniel Carter Beard2.William D. Boyce3.Waite Phillips4.Ernest Thompson Seton5.James E. West

Daniel Carter Beard

• Woodsman, illustrator, and naturalist, Daniel Carter Beard was a pioneering spirit of the Boy Scouts of America. Already 60 years old when the Boy Scouts of America was formed, he became a founder and merged it with his own boys' organization, the Sons of Daniel Boone. As the first national Scout commissioner, Beard helped design the original Scout uniform and introduced the elements of the First Class Scout badge. "Uncle Dan," as he was known to boys and leaders, will be remembered as a colorful figure dressed in buckskin who helped form Scouting in the United States.

William D. Boyce

• In 1909, Chicago publisher William D. Boyce lost his way in a dense London fog. A boy came to his aid and, after guiding the man, refused a tip, explaining that as a Scout he would not take a tip for doing a Good Turn. This gesture by an unknown Scout inspired a meeting with Robert Baden-Powell, the British founder of the Boy Scouts. As a result, William Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February, 8, 1910. He also created the Lone Scouts, which merged with the Boy Scouts of America in 1924.

Waite Phillips

• He was an American oil pioneer, banker, and rancher who also developed office complexes. Phillips gave his 72-room mansion to the city of Tulsa, OK and 127,000 acres of his Philmont ranch in New Mexico to the Boy Scouts of America, together with his 23-story Philtower Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Ernest Thompson Seton

• Born in Scotland, Ernest Thompson Seton immigrated to America as a youth in the 1880s. His fascination with the wilderness led him to become a naturalist, an artist, and an author, and through his works he influenced both youth and adults. Seton established a youth organization called the Woodcraft Indians, and his background of outdoor skills and interest in youth made him a logical choice for the position of first Chief Scout of the BSA in 1910. His many volumes of Scoutcraft became an integral part of Scouting, and his intelligence and enthusiasm helped turn an idea into reality.

James E. West

• James E. West was appointed the first Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America in 1911. Although orphaned and physically handicapped, he had the perseverance to graduate from law school and become a successful attorney. This same determination provided the impetus to help build Scouting into the largest and most effective youth organization in the world. When he retired in 1943, Dr. West was recognized throughout the country as the true architect of the Boy Scouts of America.

Requirement 2B

Discuss the significance to Scouting of any TWO of the following:

1.Brownsea Island2.The First World Jamboree3.Boy Scout Handbook4.Boys’ Life magazine

Brownsea Island• After returning as a military hero from service in Africa, Robert Baden-Powell

discovered that English boys were reading the manual on stalking and survival in the wilderness he had written for British soldiers. He rewrote the manual as a nonmilitary nature skill book and called it Scouting for Boys. To test his ideas, Baden-Powell brought together 22 boys to camp at Brownsea Island, off the coast of England. This historic campout was a success and resulted in the advent of Scouting.

• The Brownsea Island Scout camp was a boys camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organized by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Twenty boys from different social backgrounds participated from August 1 to August 8, 1907 in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Recognized as the world's first Scout camp, the event is regarded as the real origin of the worldwide Scout movement.

• Today, Scouts still enjoy Brownsea Island. The 1973 and 2007 World Jamborees were held on Brownsea Island.

First World Jamboree

• Summer of 1920• 8000 Scouts from 21 Countries• Scouts declared Baden-Powell “Chief Scout of

the World”• Serves to foster understanding between

people from different countries• 100th Anniversary Jamboree 38,074 Scouts

from 158 Countries

Boy Scout Handbook• The Boy Scout Handbook #33105 is the official handbook of the

Boy Scouts of America. It is a descendant of Robert Baden-Powell's original handbook, Scouting for Boys, which has been the basis for Scout handbooks in many countries.

• The Boy Scout Handbook is available at your local council service center or wherever Scouting merchandise is sold and online at www.scoutstuff.org. Click here for a list of Scouting retailers near you.

• The new edition of the Boy Scout Handbook is not just a guide to the outdoors - but a guide for life that addresses issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, respecting others, and using the Internet appropriately.

• The Boy Scout Handbook contains the requirements and great resources for each rank from a new Scout earning Tenderfoot through Eagle.

Boys’ Life Magazine

• George S. Barton founded, edited and published the first edition of Boys’ Life.

• Goal to provide Scouts a publication they can call their own.

• Goal to place a magazine in the hands of all boys a magazine “which they will not be afraid to have their parents see them reading.

• These are reflected in Boys’ Life today

Requirement 3

• Discuss with your counselor how Scouting’s programs have developed over time and been adapted to fit different age groups and interests (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Exploring, Venturing)

Requirement 4A

• Attend either a BSA national jamboree, OR world Scout jamboree, OR a national BSA high-adventure base. While there, keep a journal documenting your day-to-day experiences. Upon your return, report to your counselor what you did, saw, and learned. You may include photos, brochures, and other documents in your report.

• Do this or do 4B

Requirement 4B

• Write or visit the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas.* Obtain information about this facility. Give a short report on what you think the role of this museum is in the Scouting program.*If you visit the BSA’s national traveling tour, Adventure Base 100, in 2010, you may use this experience to fulfill requirement 4b. Visit www.adventurebase100.org (with your parent’s permission) for the schedule and for more information.

• Do this or do 4A

BSA Museum Address

National Scouting Museum1329 West Walnut Hill LaneIrving, TX 75038

Requirement 5

• Learn about the history of your unit or Scouting in your area. Interview at least two people (one from the past and one from the present) associated with your troop. These individuals could be adult unit leaders, Scouts, troop committee members, or representatives of your troop’s chartered organization. Find out when your unit was originally chartered. Create a report of your findings on the history of your troop, and present it to your patrol or troop or at a court of honor, and then add it to the troop’s library. This presentation could be in the form of an oral/written report, an exhibit, a scrapbook, or a computer presentation such as a slide show.

History of Troop 226

• First Chartered - November 10, 1953• First Charter Organization –

Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church• First Scoutmaster – Ralph Peters• Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church sponsored

two troops 220 and 226• Moved in 1999 to Buena Vista Elementary

School

History of 226 (continued)

• Charter Organization at Buena Vista Elementary – Troop Committee

• Moved to St. Lukes Lutheran Church 2002• Charter Organization – St. Lukes Lutheran

Church• Troop has reputation as a canoeing troop!• Nickname – Walnut Creek River Rats

Requirement 6

• Make a collection of some of your personal patches and other Scouting memorabilia. With their permission, you may include items borrowed from family members or friends who have been in Scouting in the past, or you may include photographs of these items. Show this collection to your counselor, and share what you have learned about items in the collection. (There is no requirement regarding how large or small this collection must be.)

Requirement 7

• Reproduce the equipment for an old-time Scouting game such as those played at Brownsea Island. You may find one on your own (with your counselor’s approval), or pick one from the Scouting Heritage merit badge pamphlet. Teach and play the game with other Scouts.

Kim’s Game

• The Scout should collect on a tray a number of articles - knives, spoons, pencil, pen, stones, book and so on - not more than about fifteen for the first few games, and cover the whole over with a cloth. He then makes the others sit round, where they can see the tray, and uncovers it for one minute. Then each of them must make a list on a piece of paper of all the articles he can remember… The one who remembers most wins the game.

Old Spotty Face• Prepare squares of cardboard divided into about a dozen small squares.

Each Scout should take one, and should have a pencil and go off a few hundred yards, or, if indoors, as far as space will allow. The umpire then takes a large sheet of cardboard, with twelve squares ruled on it of about three inch sides if in the open, or one and a half to two inches if indoors.

• The umpire has a number of black paper discs, half an inch in diameter, and pins ready, and sticks about half a dozen on to his card, dotted about where he sees. He holds up his card so that it can be seen by the Scouts. They then gradually approach, and as they get within sight they mark their cards with the same pattern of spots. The one who does so at the farthest distance from the umpire wins.

• Give five points for every spot correctly shown, deduct one point for every two inches nearer than the furthest man. This teaches long sight.

Fugitives• Each Scout in the patrol has a round disc of white cardboard, with a number printed

plainly upon it, pinned on to the back of his shirt or sweater. One member of the patrol is then chosen as the " fugitive," while the rest act as hunters.

• The " fugitive," who wears tracking-irons, or leaves some kind of trail behind him, is given, say, 'ten minutes' start. The rest of the patrol then start out and endeavor to track him down.

• As soon as a " hunter " can get near enough to the fugitive," without being seen, to take down his number, the latter is caught. But if the " fugitive " can, by any means, turn the tables and get any of his pursuers' numbers, the latter are out of action.

• As soon as a number is taken down, the Scout who takes It must call it out, to let his captive know he is out of action.

• This game necessitates some careful stalking, and there is no "horse-play" in the shape of ankle-tapping.

• A sharp Scout in the patrol should be chosen for the "fugitive," as he has not only to elude perhaps six or seven pursuers, but he must also endeavor to "capture them," unless he wishes to get killed himself.

Compass Points• This game will be found excellent practice in learning the points of the compass.• Eight staves are arranged in star fashion on the ground all radiating from the center.

One staff should point due North. • One Scout now takes up his position at the outer end of each staff, and represents

one of the eight principal points of the compass. • The Scoutmaster now calls out any two points, such as S.E. and N., and the two

Scouts concerned must immediately change places. Any one moving out of place without his point being named, or moving to a wrong place or even hesitating, should lose a mark.

• When changing places, Scouts must not cross the staves, but must go outside the circle of players.

• When three marks have been lost the Scout should fall out. • As the game goes on blank spaces will occur. These will make it slightly more difficult

for the remaining boys. • To make the game more difficult sixteen points may be used instead of eight. • When played indoors the lines of the compass may be drawn in chalk on the floor.

Requirement 8

• Interview at least three people (different from those you interviewed for requirement 5) over the age of 50 who were Scouts. Find out about their Scouting experiences. Ask about the impact that Scouting has had on their lives. Share what you learned with your counselor.

Sources for Information

• http://www.inquiry.net/ Source for games• http://www.bsamuseum.org/ • http://www.troop226wc.org/• http://www.usscouts.org/

• Merit badge help and worksheets use http://www.meritbadge.org/