[On February 8th,
1910, Chicago publisher William D. Boyce
incorporated the Boys Scouts of America,
a US
version of the international Scouting organization. So this week I’ve
AmericanStudied Boyce and a handful of other figures connected to the Boy
Scouts, leading up to this weekend post on an international and cross-cultural
context for the Scouts.]
On really
compelling ways to contextualize the Boy Scouts of America with international
organizations and histories that are part of American society as well.
I had originally
planned to focus this weekend post on issues such as gay Scout leaders and
girls in the Scouts, but Friday’s post evolved to include those as part of the
Alfred Kinsey conversation. Fortunately for me, a colleague and friend shared a
very interesting perspective in response to the series, and so I’ve decided to
make a somewhat redacted version of it the focus of this post instead. It is:
“In
your final note, you asked about other scouting organizations. So here’s
something. My family members are all proud members of Plast—the
Ukrainian Scouting organization. You can read the full history of it on Wikipedia—it’s
quite fascinating as it developed from just a scouting organization into a
full-on Resistance movement.
My
younger family members attend various Plast camps in the summer where they earn
badges and all that. They really rough it; the kids camp out and practice
“no-trace” camping all the time. They create their own meals and all
without parents (although there are various levels of counselors around).
The oldest girl earned the highest badge during her first year of college and
the oldest boy has already been a counselor for a year.
And
my contribution? Many a Christmas and birthday gift has been camping
equipment!
I
was not in Plast nor were my siblings. I suspect my father was so happy
and relieved to be safe in the US (he escaped Ukraine when the Nazis and
Soviets were moving in and then stayed in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany
for years until he and my grandfather were sponsored to America) that he did
not push us into the scouts; I think it was too close to the war and his
experiences. We did go to Ukrainian school on Saturdays, but unlike my young
family members, we did not immediately head over to the Plast den.
I
must say that I’m fascinated with their adventures. At the various camps
(biking camp, for instance, meant that one young family member biked from
Pittsburgh to Washington D.C. during a five day period with about 10 other
Plastuns) they make connections with other Plastuns from all over the
country. They learn an incredible level of independence and, oh yeah,
only Ukrainian is spoken at the camps (well, officially) so they get immersed
in an entirely different culture.
This
is not directly related to your post, but it is interesting to me. I’m
sure other ethnicities have similar scouting organizations.
And
one final note—I gave a paper one time on the women in the IRA and the military
resistance organizations in Ukraine when it was occupied by the Soviets—the
groups that developed out of Plast. By far and away the most important
operatives were women. Go figure.”
As always, some of
my very favorite moments on this blog come from readers and fellow
AmericanStudiers! Thanks to this colleague, and please keep sharing all such
responses, here in comments, by
email, or any other way!
Valentine’s
series starts Monday,
Ben
PS. What do you
think? Other Scouting histories or stories you’d share?
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