1970s-era Scouting/USA branding

Scouting/USA was a "communicative name" chosen by the Boy Scouts of America in 1976 in an effort to rebrand itself.[1][2] The Scouting/USA symbol was unveiled at its biennial National Council meeting.[3] The organization retained the name Boy Scouts of America as its legal name, but planned to use the new name on literature, billboards, insignia, business cards and stationery and for most other promotional material.[1] They quietly abandoned this effort by 1980 and the printing of the ninth edition of the Boy Scout Handbook.[4]

Background

The Ideal Scout

You can see that it would be tough to use the word "boy" when your troop is 80 per cent black. But I also thought that "boy" ignored girls' involvement in scouting. The new name takes it all in.[5]

With the inclusion of girls in the Exploring, and in an effort to appeal to underserved communities (i.e. Latino, African Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians) the national headquarters said, "The word 'boy' is objectionable to minorities, our young adult (male and female) leaders and naturally to the young women enrolled in our coed Exploring program."[1][6]

Additionally, the rebranding was meant to identify the organization with the country it worked in, the United States, rather than a continent, America; and be inclusive of all of its programs Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Exploring.[1][7]

Despite some reservations among its members and the community, the BSA went ahead with the rebranding. "Forward Together/Scouting USA" became the theme of the 1977 National Scout Jamboree.[8] The BSA also tried to reinforce this by emphasizing that everyone in Scouting should be moving forward together.[9]

A new, bright red and white symbol, included a modernized version of the traditional fleur-de-lis of Scouting was introduced.[7] The symbol, along with the new name was meant to the broadened scope of the organization.[10]

The Girl Scouts were not happy.[1] Leaders with the GSUSA accused the BSA of chauvinism, moving forward with the name change without consideration to how it would affect the girls.[5] The GSUSA also claimed that the public would assume that GSUSA was a part of Scouting/USA, which it was not.[5] Many of these same charges arose in 2018 with the start of Scouts BSA.[11] Longtime observers of Scouting will note that this is not the first time the two Scout organizations have fought over the use of the term, Scout.[12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Treaster, Joseph B. (February 23, 1977). "Boy Scouts of America Adopt Name of Scouting/USA". New York Times. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  2. ↑ "New Name for our Programs". Scouting. February 12, 1971.
  3. ↑ "History 1970 to 1979". History of Scouting.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Ninth edition". History of the Boy Scout Handbook (BSA). troop97.net. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Sharpe, Jerry (March 20, 1977). "Scouts Drop 'Boy,' Girls Unhappy". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 20. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ↑ "Boy Scouts Haven't Changed Name Despite Stories". Arizona Daily Sun. Flagstaff, Arizona. March 18, 1977. p. 14. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Scouts' name the same". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, Illinois. March 16, 1977. p. 7. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Get Set for the 1977 Jamboree". Scouting. Vol. 65, no. 1. Irving, Texas. 1977. p. 28. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Scoutmaster's Minute". Scouting. Vol. 65, no. 3. Irving, Texas. 1977. p. 15. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Scouts Retain Name". Asbury Park Press. Asbury Park, New Jersey. March 17, 1977. p. 47. Archived from the original on February 11, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  11. ↑ Berthelsen, Christian. "The Girl Scouts Just Sued the Boy Scouts Over Use of the Term 'Scout'". Time Magazine. Bloomberg. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  12. ↑ Rothschild, Mary Aickin (Autumn 1981). "To Scout or to Guide? The Girl Scout-Boy Scout Controversy, 1912-1941". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 6 (3): 115–121. doi:10.2307/3346224. JSTOR 3346224.
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