Our Frontier Is the World: The Boy Scouts in the Age of American Ascendancy

393 Pages·2018·12.401 MB·English

by  Mischa Honeck

Our Frontier Is the World
A VOLUME IN THE SERIES
THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD
Edited by Mark Philip Bradley, David C. Engerman,
Amy S. Greenberg, and Paul A. Kramer
A list of titles in this series is available at cornellpress.cornell . edu.
Our Frontier Is the World
The Boy Scouts in the Age of
American Ascendancy
Mischa Honeck
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2018 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2018 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Honeck, Mischa, 1976– author.
Title: Our frontier is the world : the Boy Scouts in the age of
American ascendancy / Mischa Honeck.
Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2018. | Series: The
United States in the world | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017040107 (print) | LCCN 2017043855 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501716195 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501716201 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501716188 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Boy Scouts of Amer i ca— History. | Scouting (Youth
activity)— Political aspects— United States. | Imperialism— Social
aspects— United States— History.
Classification: LCC HS3313 (ebook) | LCC HS3313 .H66 2018
(print) | DDC 369.430973—d c23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn.loc . gov / 2017040107
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
suppliers and materials to the fullest extent poss i ble in the publishing
of its books. Such materials include vegetable-b ased, low- VOC inks
and acid- free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-f ree, or partly
composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website
at cornellpress . cornell . edu.
Cover illustration: Norman Rockwell, Pointing the Way, 1962. Calendar
Illustration for the Boy Scouts of America for Brown & Bigelow Co.;
media print lithograph on paper. With permission of the National
Scouting Museum.
Keen, clean face of the embryo man . . .
Conquer the world, as you will and can!
We dip the flag to your world- long file
And the whimsical vim of your Boy Scout smile.
— Edmund Vance Cooke, Salute the Boy Scouts, 1919
Boy Scouts of Amer i ca are all over the world. Kind of like the army,
every body has heard of it.
— Fourteen- year- old Boy Scout dropout, 1968
To Elena, Nikita, and Vera,
who light my way
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowl edgments xi
Abbreviations xv
Introduction: The White Boy’s Burden 1
1. Brothers Together: Men, Boys, and the Rejuvenation of Empire 19
2. From Africa to Antarctica: Expeditions to the Global Frontier 54
3. A Ju nior League of Nations: Campfire Diplomacy
at the World Jamborees 88
4. A Brother to All? Scouting and the Probl em of Race 129
5. Youth Marches: Depression, Dictators, and War 168
6. Are You a Crusader? Raising Cold Warriors 206
7. Innocents Abroad: Scouting across the U.S. Military Empire 243
Epilogue: The Woes of Aging 275
Appendix: Questionnaire 287
Notes 289
Bibliography 333
Index 365

Illustrations
1.1 Robert Baden- Powell, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Daniel
Car ter Beard 27
1.2 Boy Scouts sell Liberty Bonds in New York City during the
Second Liberty Loan Drive 46
1.3 George J. Fisher and a Boy Scout honor Theodore Roos e velt 50
2.1 Robert Dick Douglas, Douglas Oliver, and David Martin pose
with two dead lions in the Serengeti 72
2.2 Paul Siple in winter explorer gear 77
3.1 “The League of Youth” 99
3.2 Flag bearers at the March of Nations in Arrowe Park, E ngland 100
3.3 U.S. Boy Scouts dressed as Plains Indians perform a Native
American dance in Arrowe Park, E ngland 112
4.1 Moro children lined up before an American- built settlement
house in Zamboanga, Southern Philippines 136
4.2 Moro Boy Scouts taking the Scout oath 136
4.3 Training course for African American scoutmasters at
Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, V irginia 150
5.1 Young German American Bundists at Camp Nordland,
New Jersey 177
5.2 Franklin Delano Roo se velt pins the Ea gle Scout award on a
Boy Scout during the National Jamboree in Washington, DC 185
5.3 Japa nese American Scouts during a morning flag-r aising
ceremony at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center 194