I attended the official closing ceremony for the Girl Scouts’ 100-year old Edith Macy Center on March 28, 2026.
Edith Macy chaired the Girl Scout National Board’s Executive Committee from 1919 until her unexpected death in 1925. She had campaigned for a permanent school to train adult Girl Scouts–both volunteers and professional staff–and her husband donated land and funds to realize her vision. The facility has changed its name over a century (Camp Edith Macy, Edith Macy National Center, etc.) but its purpose has remained constant.
I was honored to be a member of the Edith Macy Legacy Task Force involved in the planning the weekend, and to be a presenter twice during the weekend. My talk drew upon the research that informed my series of Macy posts over the past six months.
Note: I’m trying to correctly attribute photos from the weekend, but most look very similar. If you think you took a photo used here, please let me know and I’ll update.
The Great Hall
The Great Hall is the centerpiece of the Macy complex. Students gathered here for evening meals during training sessions, group activities, singing, and the traditional pinning ceremony, where each first time student received the prized Macy lamp of knowledge pin.
There was a large group of first-time visitors pinned this time, in a lovely ceremony as the sunlight illuminated the historic building.
The Great Lodge holds a special place in Girl Scout symbolism because it is here that the 4th World Congress of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts assembled in May 1926.
For those few days, the leaders of the Scouting movement were all present in this one, relatively small building. These included Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA; Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts; his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, Chief Girl Guide; and the early presidents of the movement, including Anne Hyde Choate, Lou Henry Hoover, Dean Sarah Louise Arnold, and representatives from 32 countries. Many Girl Scouts insist their presence can still be felt in that hall.
I was surprised, however, that no staff mentioned the Great Hall cornerstone and its contents.
The Macy Cornerstone
According to the Girl Scout Collector’s Guide (p. 525), staff, national board members, Macy family representatives, campers from nearby Camp Andrée Clark, and the construction crew held a small ceremony to fill and seal the cornerstone, located a the north end of the west terrace. “Many left a small token in the metal box of the cornerstone–Camp Andrée pins, flowers, a newspaper, and so on.”
More detailed information is available in the Macy Correspondence Files:
This document lists the 11 women who donated their Camp Andrée pins. It notes that there were 163 leaders present from 27 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. A girl from each state, plus Canada and Puerto Rico, read a statement about her state’s contribution to the Girl Scout movement and placed the papers inside as well.
The handwritten notation reads:
Statement placed in corner stone of the camp building, along with a special gift from Mr. Macy–do not destroy ever. See JDR [Jane Deeter Rippin] for further particulars.
Of course, getting to the cornerstone will take a bulldozer, dynamite, or possibly a nuclear explosion.
When Macy was turned into a year-round facility in the early 1980s, some of the existing stone structures resisted demolition.
The stone fireplace from the Ferndust unit resisted demolition and was instead incorporated into the new Gathering Place complex.
If future owners are able to demolish the Great Hall, I hope these items will be returned to the Girl Scouts.
© 2026 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian, but NOT a Girl Scout employee.
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