The progressive movement in the United States was at its height during the early twentieth century. With the migration of families from farms to cities, there were concerns among some people that young men were no longer learning patriotism and individualism. The YMCA was an early promoter of reforms for young men with a focus on social welfare and programs of mental, physical, social and religious development.
Scouting had two notable predecessors in the United States: the Woodcraft Indians started by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902 and the Sons of Daniel Boone founded by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905. In 1907, British General Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouting movement in England using elements of Seton’s works. Several small local Scouting programs for boys started independently in the U.S. soon after— most of these later merged with the BSA.
In 1909, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce was visiting London, where he encountered the Unknown Scout and learned of the Scouting movement. Soon after his return to the U.S., Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910. Edgar M. Robinson and Lee F. Hanmer became interested in the nascent BSA movement and convinced Boyce to turn the program over to the YMCA for development in April 1910. Robinson enlisted Seton, Beard, Charles A. Eastman and other prominent leaders in the early youth movements. In January 1911, Robinson turned the movement over to James E. West who became the first Chief Scout Executive and Scouting began to expand in the U.S.
The BSA’s stated purpose at its incorporation in 1910 was “to teach [boys] patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred values.” Later, in 1937, Deputy Chief Scout Executive George J. Fisher expressed the BSA’s mission; “Each generation as it comes to maturity has no more important duty than that of teaching high ideals and proper behavior to the generation which follows.” The current mission statement of the BSA is “to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”
