Photo: KWhiteJGLB, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Juliette Gordon Low was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1860. Friends and family called her Daisy. She suffered hearing loss in both ears, partly from an ear infection and partly from an injury at her wedding.
Her marriage to William Mackay Low was unhappy. After his death in 1905 she spent much of her time in Britain.
A new idea
In England she met Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, and worked with the Girl Guides. She brought the idea home.
On March 12, 1912, she registered 18 girls in Savannah as the first troop of American Girl Guides. The name changed to Girl Scouts the next year. Girls hiked, camped, learned first aid and studied practical skills at a time when such activities were not expected of them.
Low paid many early costs herself and reportedly sold her pearls to keep the group going.
Legacy
She died of cancer in 1927. By then there were more than 160,000 Girl Scouts. Her birthplace in Savannah is a National Historic Landmark and a Girl Scout program center.
