Scout Salute to Female Scout Leaders

[RememberSchiff 3655]

 

35 years ago, Kathy Hall was a single mother of three in search of a male role model for her then 7 year-old son. She decided to enroll him in her neighborhood Boy Scout troop, under the Grand Towers district. When she found out that there were no parents whatsoever involved in the troop, she took it upon herself to carry the gauntlet, and became the den mother to about 15 young cub scouts.

...

“She just didn’t play about the Boy Scouts. She’ll check your grades from school, she’ll call your mama on you," he says. "You do boy scouts on top of what your job is, on top of what your responsibilities are at home. So for you to give that much time to somebody else and still have 3, 4 kids. That’s the one thing they show you. If you’re going to do something, stick to it. See it through.â€

 

In 1985, she began a week of advanced leader training in a class called Wood Badge. At a dinner one evening, she walked in to a standing ovation, and found out she had been named as the first female scoutmaster in the country. But the title was bittersweet.

 

‘The night that I was told that I had just became the first female scoutmaster in the country, I was also told that it would not be out because I was black. That was the bottom line," she says. She was upset, but chose to not rock the boat. "We’d had Miss America – she was black. We’ve had other black females that has succeeded, and I could not really understand.â€

 

It was never in the papers or the news, and for years, she kept it to herself – until just a few years ago, when she read a story about another woman who declared herself to be the first female scout master. In November, the Board of Aldermen recognized her 35 years of service with a public declaration."

 

Read the whole story at this link

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/after-35-years-first-black-female-boy-scout-master-gets-her-due

 

My understanding is that Catherine Pollard was the first female scoutmaster circa 1973, though not "BSA officially". In 1988 Boy Scouts of America abolished gender requirements on all volunteer positions, and made Ms. Pollard the first woman Scoutmaster.

http://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2006/12/16/first-woman-scoutmaster-catherine-pollard/

 

Thank your for your service and perservance,

RS

 

[SSScout 1615]

"The work is done by whoever shows up"

 

Thank you for "showing up" and "doing the work"

 

The folks that don't have missed out on the satisfaction and "extra pay".