Mar 15 2008
Juliette Gordon Low and the Girl Scouts
Juliet Gordon Low, affectionately known as Daisy, was born in Savannah on Halloween in 1860 and it is said she could everything except sing or spell. A child of privilege, her Grandfather, William Washington Gordon, founded the Central of Georgia Railroad, and her mother’s family (Kinzie) practically founded the city of Chicago.
Young Daisy Gordon developed what was to become a lifetime interest in the arts. She wrote poems; sketched, wrote and acted in plays; and later became a skilled painter and sculptor. She had many pets throughout her life and was particularly fond of exotic birds, Georgia mockingbirds, and dogs. Daisy was also known for her great sense of humor.
On December 21, 1886, her parents’ 29th wedding anniversary, Juliette married William Mackay Low, a wealthy Englishman, at Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia. Although the couple moved to England, Juliette continued her travels and divided her time between the British Isles and America.
Before her marriage, Juliette had suffered from chronic ear infections. She had lost most of her hearing in one ear because of improper treatment. At her wedding, when she was 26, she lost hearing in her other ear after a grain of good-luck rice thrown at the event lodged in her ear, puncturing the eardrum and resulting in an infection and total loss of hearing in that ear.
During the Spanish-American War, Juliette came back to America to aid in the war effort. She helped her mother organize a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers returning from Cuba. Her father, who had been a captain in the Confederate army, was commissioned as a general in the U.S. Army and served on the Puerto Rican Peace Commission. At the end of the war, Juliette returned to England and to a disintegrating marriage. The Lows were separated at the time of her husband’s death in 1905.
Juliette Gordon Low spent several years searching for something useful to do with her life. Her search ended in 1911, when she met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and became interested in the new youth movement. Afterwards, she channeled all her considerable energies into the fledgling movement.
Less than a year later, she returned to the United States and made her historic telephone call to a friend (a distant cousin), saying, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” On March 12, 1912, Juliette Low gathered 18 girls to register the first troop of American Girl Guides. Margaret “Daisy Doots” Gordon, her niece and namesake, was the first registered member. The name of the organization was changed to Girl Scouts the following year.
Juliette Gordon Low died at her home on Lafayette Square January 17, 1927. She is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Savannah. You can visit Juliet Gordon’s childhood home on Bull and Oglethorpe Streets, her married home on Lafayette Square including the carriage house where she founded the Girl Scouts and held the first meeting, Christ Church where she was married, and Laurel Grove Cemetery where she is buried.
