Seton in the Early Days of Scouting

A recently obtained piece of Boy Scout memorabilia caused a review of Scout history that I found quite interesting. The piece is a merit badge certificate (Figure 1) issued September 8, 1916, by the National Court of Honor. The certificate has the name of Ernest Thompson Seton, Chief Scout, scratched out.

For my review, I turned to two classic works on Boy Scout history. One is William D. Murray's The History of the Boy Scouts of America, published in 1937 in celebration of the first 25 years of Scouting. The second is Robert W. Peterson's The Boy Scout: An American Adventure, published in 1984 in celebration of scouting's first 75 years.

Seton, of course, was one of the founders of Boy Scouting in the United States. Murray's and Petersons's books contain frequent references to his contributions. But Murray's book only notes the following about Seton's split with the BSA:

In the beginning, Ernest Thompson Seton, the Chief Scout, was the Chairman of the National Court of Honor. When his connection with the Boy Scouts of America terminated in 1913, the office of Chief Scout lapsed...(p.470).

Peterson's book, as Paul Harvey might say, tells "the rest of the story". Peterson (p.82) says that Seton's departure from the BSA was prompted by clashes with James E. West, early Chief Scout Executive. According to Peterson, West and Seton's "temperamental opposite." Peterson adds that on policy issues "Seton lost virtually every battle in the National Council."

The following extended quote from Peterson's describes in detail Seton's and West's difficulties. A paraphrase would not do justice to Peterson's narrative.

The final break occurred late in 1915. Calling a press conference on December 5, Seton announced that he had resigned as Chief Scout in February and complained that the National Council had failed to accept his resignation and was still using his name. Summing up his view of Scouting, Seton said, "Seton started it; Baden-Powell boomed it; West killed it." He described West as 'a man of great executive ability, but without knowledge of the activities of boys; who has no point of contact with boys, and who, I might almost say, has never seen the blue sky in his life.'

West and the National Council replied in kind, stating that there was no resignation to accept because the Council had quietly failed to reelect Seton as Chief Scout. The reason, West said, was that Seton was not an American citizen and would not 'make a definite promise' that he would be naturalized. The Chief Scout Executive also said that Seton had made repeated objections to the section on patriotism in the 1911 Handbook for Boys and had 'contended that the Boy Scouts of America should not undertake to have boys pledge allegiance to their country, but should leave them free to support our country when they thought it was right and to damn it when they thought it was wrong.' Seton, West charged, 'was in harmony with the views of anarchists and radical socialists.'

After this acrimonious exchange, Seton dropped from Scouting's sight and devoted himself to the Woodcraft League of America, the successor to his Woodcraft Indians. (In 1926 the breach was patched over when Seton was one of the first 22 recipients of the Silver Beaver award for outstanding service to youth. Seton's award was the seventh--not the first or second as he believed was his due--and he did not attend the presentation. Incidentally, at his death on October 23, 1946, in Santa Fe, N. M., Seton was an American citizen.) The departure of Seton caused no tremors at Scouting's grass roots because the program was already firmly entrenched on Baden-Powell's model (p. 82).

The 1916 merit badge certificate I obtained shows at least one attempt by the Boy Scouts to counter Seton's claim that the BSA "was still using his name." Seton's name is scratched out.

Collecting Scout memorabilia is a fascinating hobby. But too often we forget that our hobby is rooted in Scouting's history. On occasions such as my recent find of the 1916 merit badge certificate, our hobby's celebration of Scouting's heritage is brought to the forefront.

REFERENCES CITED

Murray, William D. The History of the Boy Scouts of America. New York: Boy Scouts of America, 1937.

Peterson, Robert W. The Boy Scouts: An American Adventure. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1984.