stamp collecting at jamboree

SOSSI manned the Stamp Collecting merit badge exhibit at the Jamboree.
the jamboree journal newspapertrankyou certificate

(to the left) The daily newspaper tradition was continued.

(to the right) The staff received a Thank You certificate and souvenirs (below).

Most came back Jamboree after Jamboree.  The Staff logo has a horseshoe behind it.
souviners from the 1977 bsa jamboree
1977 national boy scout jamboree map
 

About Scouting in the 1970's

Scouting was undergoing major changes in the 1970’s rank requirements were “watered down” in an effort to get more First Class Scouts. Forty new merit badges were introduced to help keep Scouting more relevant.

It was believed that Scouts would stay in Scouting if they achieved First Class. Camping and Cooking were no longer required badges for Eagle, a Scout could become Eagle without much experience in camp.

I can’t resist the chance to editorialize about the 1970’s, and since it’s my website. Alden Barber was Chief Scout Executive. Barber believed that scouting was missing membership of city boys. A departure from traditional Scouting might yield membership increases. Barber became the Chief Executive after producing membership increases in Chicago. Later, these membership increases became suspect and it was discovered that Scouts had been registered where there were no units. The BSA received a black eye for falsified membership numbers. It became well known that scouting professionals aided by some district and council level volunteers registered “fake” units, or inflated membership in actual units. It was a self perpetuating cycle. A new Scout Executive or District Commissioner takes over and discover membership numbers were inflated. In this era the United Way supported scouting financially based on membership. A decrease in membership would affect funding. The choice between honest counting, or continuing the charade seemed to be difficult.

Slogans and programs that had been the mainstay of the BSA were discarded never to be used again. Onward for God and my Country, Strengthen the Arm of Liberty, Forward on Liberty’s Team, etc. In Chief Scout Executive Alden Barbers (1967-1976) unpublished autobiography, he suggested that the “Red Coats”, Woodbadge trained leaders were a problem. I’m not sure what that means other than trained leaders know how the program works and perhaps that’s a problem for some National level leaders when so many things were being changed in the 1970’s. Scouting takes place in church basements and on weekend campouts, often administered by men or son’s of men who know what Scouting is. There is really little that National BSA can do, except perhaps make so many changes that these dedicated volunteers simply give up.

Membership increases didn’t materialize. It declined between 1972 and 1976. The 1970’s was a difficult era for Scouting. The Vietnam war ended in 1973, and there were questions about many things American; boys in uniforms were out of favor. Chief Barber retired in 1976. An impasse had been reached regarding membership growth. Eight Scout Executives, mostly from the largest Councils in the country rebelled at the membership numbers that they were being forced to achieve. Barber saw this as a vote of no confidence and resigned. It's interesting to note that two of the dissenting Executives (Harvey Price and James Tarr) later became Chief Scout Executives). Information from the unpublished manuscript Reflections and Recollections by Alden Barber.

Historically, Scouting has served city boys more than rural, the rural outreach had ended just a few years earlier. Scouting might get membership increases by turning itself into the YMCA or the Boys and Girls Club, but these organizations were already serving youth. The BSA had been Citizenship Training & Character Building through an outdoor program.

Camping had been such a big part of the BSA program that most troops continued to camp and Scouts needed nights at camp for the Order of the Arrow. Boys didn’t need scouting to go bowling, play basketball or hike around the neighborhood. This is a classic case of top management of the BSA not understanding our history or our mission. City boys had been joining Scouting in great numbers since 1910. The lore of Scouting was/is adventure in the out of doors. Modern BSA Councils “get it”, their named Pathway to Adventure Council (Chicago) or the Sprit of Adventure Council, (Boston). The 9th edition (February 1979) Boy Scout handbooks was totally revamped. Action images of Scouts having fun and adventure in the outdoors would be reinstated. Bill Hillcourt was brought out of retirement at age 79 to help rewrite the 9th edition. If anyone knew what Scouting was, it was Green Bar Bill.

There used to be a slogan; Get more boys in Scouting and more Scouting in boys. Changing the program wasn’t the solution. Delivering the program with the patrol Method, teaching citizenship and character building through an outdoor based program is the solution, in the 1970’s or today.

In the glory years of the 1930’s and pre-WWII the BSA operated out of a rented space in NYC. A Chief Scout Executive with one Deputy and three department heads administered the program. Membership was at an all time high and the National Council provided Councils with a myriad of printed material. After the BSA built their own building in New Jersey and later Texas, the organization became a huge bureaucracy. Numerous Deputy Chief Scout Executives, dozens of departments, etc. Money was needed to pay salaries, membership (registration fees) became the most important thing. Chief Scout Executives were changed every few years, we needed a James E West that didn’t need a handful of Assistants and Deputies to know what to do. Scouting happens in church basements or sponsoring institutions meeting rooms and campouts or camp. As a 60 year veteran; Cub and Scout units, District and Council level Scouter, I have never understood the need for a large, national organization. As a historian when I see the assistance the National BSA used to supply to units, compared to today, the difference is remarkable.
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Paul Myers Goshen, Indiana
gimogash@comcast.net