Spotlight on Senior Girl Scouts

How do we keep Senior Girl Scouts from dropping out? That question has topped meeting agendas since the Senior age level was created in 1938. (Ambassador Girl Scouts didn’t exist until 2008!)

Senior Girl Scouts take center stage in the current display at the Nation’s Capital council headquarters, with a look at older-girl programming over the years.

Exhibit of Senior Girl Scout memorabilia
Full view of display

The Senior Story

Early Girl Scout troops  had just one program level, which included girls 10–17  years old.  Soon their younger sisters wanted to join, and high-school aged girls wanted new, age-appropriate activities.

Senior Girl Scout membership pin 1938
Senior pin, 1938

In 1938 three separate age levels were created: Brownie, Intermediate, and Senior. Each level had a unique uniform, handbook, and program.  Seniors did not earn badges; instead, they focused on other recognitions, including ones for specific types of service.

Senior Girl Scouts also had their own membership pin, designed to look like the popular sorority pins of the 1930s and 1940s.

Senior Service Scouts

Senior Girl Scout Service Scout emblems
Senior Service Scout emblems

During World War II, many girls aged 15-18 became “Senior Service Scouts,” a new civil defense-oriented program that emphasized skills for the home front, providing child care, transportation, communication, shelter, clothing, and food in emergency situations.

The Senior Service Scouts wore a special red patch on their regular uniform and a dark green hat with the bright red S-trefoil emblem.

In the post-war era, Senior Girl Scout troops concentrated on a particular field that often exposed them to career possibilities. Over a dozen program areas were introduced before 1970.

Mariner Girl Scouts

  • Two Senior Girl Scouts in sailboat
  • Senior Girl Scout sailors
  • Senior Girl Scout mariner uniform options
  • Senior Girl Scout mermaids

The Mariner program was by far the most popular of these older-girl groups, particularly given the number of waterways in the Washington DC region. Mariners were easily recognizable in their striking blue nautical-style uniforms. Members expanded their swimming and camping skills with lessons in sailing and “seamanship” during the school year to prepare for a two-week sailing trip in the summer. Before the national program launched in 1934, individual troops across the country had created their own variations, including “Sea Scouts” and, in Birmingham, Alabama, “Mermaids.”

Wing Girl Scouts

Wing Scouting grew rapidly, although it never eclipsed Mariners, perhaps because they did not have a distinctive uniform of their own. Wing Scouts spent their meetings learning about aeronautics. Most of their time was ground-based instructions, but many troops managed to spend a few hours in the air, even if it was aboard a commercial flight. Washington-based Troop 492, a Wing troop comprised of African-American girls, was featured in the news several times. 

  • Three Senior Girl Scouts examine airplane wing
  • 1946 Senior Girl Scout Wing Pin
  • Senior Girl Scout Wing Scouts
  • Senior Girl Scouts reading map
  • Senior Girl Scout in air traffic control center

Mounted Troops

Senior Girl Scout uniforms
Brownie, Mariner, and Equestrian, 1958

Mounted Troops rode horses. During the 1950s, the largest Mounted Troop on the east coast was Fairfax Troop 40. Troop members rode the Appalachian Trail during summer 1954.

Senior troops could focus on specific interests, including sailing, horseback riding, hiking, international friendship, the arts, and more. Girl uniforms indicated their troop’s concentration.

Hospital Aides

The Girl Scout Hospital Aide program had been developed in 1942 in response to the drop in civilian health care workers. Girls wore green pinafores and their duties were similar to the better known Candy Striper programs that began two years later. Without the additional equipment needed for Mariner and Wing programs, many troops opted to work in hospitals, providing hundreds of hours of service. The program proved so popular, that the national organization had to issue strict guidelines for volunteer training, orientation, and assignments. Specifically, Girl Scouts could not be assigned to work in adult wards. Instead, they were to work with children; assemble, decorate, and deliver food trays; sew gowns and dressings; and clerical work.

Senior Girl Scout hospital aide
Typical uniform worn by Hospital Aides (Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum)
Senior Girl Scout hospital aide patch
Hospital Aide patch from 1945 (Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum)

Other Aide Programs

Similar Aide programs followed in the coming years, including Farm, Child Care, Library, Museum, Occupational Therapy, Office, Program, and Ranger. (Personally, I was an office aide at my council office during high school. That’s not me in the photo!)

  • Senior Girl Scout Library Aide
  • Senior Girl Scout farm aide
  • 1963 Senior Girl Scout Aide Bars
  • Senior Girl Scout Office Aide
  • Senior Girl Scout childcare aide
  • 1975 November 1

By 1980, the From Dreams to Reality program replaced the service bars.

  • Senior Girl Scout program options
  • Senior Girl Scout uniform options
  • Senior Girl Scout uniforms
  • Senior Girl Scout program options

Uniforms

GSUSA began to update uniforms for all age levels in 1970, starting with Seniors.  These high schoolers were still wearing the two-piece skirt suit introduced in 1960. Girls had quickly nicknamed the suit the “Stewardess uniform,” but the flight attendants had already moved on to trendier styles. Seniors themselves had their own ideas about a uniform; they wanted pants—and mini-skirts, too.

After considering suggestions, designs, and even samples sent by girls, GSUSA opted for a loose A-line dress that buttoned up the front. The options included pants and a distinctive belt.

Senior Girl Scout uniforms
Senior Uniform for the 1970s

The most notable feature of the uniform dress was the hemline—or, rather, the lack of one. After endless debates among focus groups and survey responses, GSUSA gave up trying to settle on the appropriate length. The dress was sold unhemmed, with a hang-tag reading: “The Official GS Uniform with the Unofficial Hemline.” If girls wanted mini-skirted uniforms, Headquarters seemed to say, let parents deal with the matter.  Since many Senior Girl Scouts were accustomed to sewing their own clothes, they easily turned the new dress into a short tunic (or mini-skirt) to be worn over the new pants. Just how many ditched the pants once out their front door is unknown. 

For more about these programs, see the marvelous Vintage Girl Scout Online Museum.

© 2023 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 2000s

Counting down to the 110th birth of the Girl Scouts of the USA on March 12, 2022.

Pssst: That’s TOMORROW

The Girl Scout movement underwent dramatic changes in the 2000s. While there had been incremental changes to badges, age levels, and council boundaries before, this time sweeping changes were simultaneous.

All initiatives were part of the all-encompassing Core Business Strategy.

Girl Scout Leadership Experience

GSUSA introduced a completely new program curriculum for all age levels. The centerpiece of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience was the Journey–a vaguely defined theme that structured a troop year.

Journey Ladder
Early Visual Aid for Explaining Journeys

Badges seemed to be an afterthought as they rolled out roughly three years after the journeys. The badges looked completely unfamiliar. Designs that traced as far back as 1912, such as Cooking, were discontinued. A key element of historical continuity was lost.

Variations on Girl Scout cooking badge designs
Evolution of the Cooking Badge by Vintage GS Online Museum
Whats  Happening With Girl Scout Badges
What’s Happening With Badges, from GSUSA

Age Levels Redefined

Girl Scout levels by paragraph
Girl Scout levels explained

Program levels were shuffled. First graders became Daisies, not Brownies. Now each level Brownies, Juniors, Seniors, and Ambassadors (a new level for 11th and 12th graders) were shortened from three-years to two, except for Cadettes, which remained three years, to match middle school grouping.

Realignment

The realignment project was designed to consolidate 315 councils into 100.

The Un-uniform

While Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors still had recognizable uniform options, the new dress code for all ages was white polo, khaki bottom (pants, skirts, shorts, etc.) plus a sash or vest.

Girl Scout uniform policy
2008 statement copy
  • 2003 00 cover
  • Girl Scout Uniform Essentials for Every Grade Level 1
  • 2020U 00 cover 2
  • 2009 11

Will the Girl Scouts crumble under all of these changes? Will the movement survive? Stay tuned ….(Spoiler alert: YES).

History by Decade 2000s
History by Decade 2000s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1990s

Counting down to the 110th birth of the Girl Scouts of the USA on March 12, 2022.

Four Memorable Moments from Girl Scout history in the 1990s. How many do you remember?

Bronze Award Created

When the Gold and Silver Awards were introduced in 1980s, Junior Girl Scouts asked “What about us?”

Explanation of Girl Scout Bronze Award
Leader magazine, Summer 2001

Daisy Pin Redesigned

The original Daisy membership pin was redesigned in 1993 to incorporate a trefoil shape.

Round green pin with daisy flower
Original Daisy Pin
Gold pin with flower center
New Daisy Pin

Cookie Pins Introduced

If cookie patches and cookie badges weren’t sufficient recognition for the venerable product sale, Girl Scouts of all ages could earn a cookie pin. The program ran from 1998 through 2019, when the current Cookie Entrepreneur program launched. So far the Entrepreneur pins seem to be durable. The first cookie pins were plastic and may have come from a gum ball machine. GSUSA soon switched to metal cookie pins, these were also cheap. One good sneeze and they all broke apart.

Box of Girl Scout cookies with pins spilling out
Past cookie pins

New National Headquarters

GSUSA’s Manhattan headquarters relocated from 830 Third Avenue to 420 Fifth Avenue in 1992.

Blue and white patch with letters reading Girl Scout national headquarters in New York
Souvenir Patch
History by Decade 1990s
History by Decade 1990s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1980s

Next up, Girl Scout history from the 1980s. Five Great Moments from Girl Scout history in the 1980s. How many do you remember?

Daisy Program Introduced

Young girl in blue smock
GSD 1 sketch

Starting in 1984, kindergarten-age girls could become Daisy Girl Scouts. Daisies wore simple blue smocks. They did not sell cookies and did not have earned recognitions. Daisy petals were introduced in 2002, petals in 2011.

Brownie Try-Its Introduced

Before 1986, the only recognitions for Brownies were patches for well-rounded troop years. Fifteen Try-Its were offered the first year, with more to follow. The triangle-shaped Try-Its were designed to be non-competitive and encouraged trying new things. Girls had to complete four of six requirements to earn the recognition.

Chart of Original Brownie Try Its
Original Try Its

Cookie Sales Turn 50

In 1984 Little Brownie Bakers marked the 50th anniversary of commercial cookie sales with a new cookie: Medallions.

Special Girl Scout cookie 50 years
50th Anniversary Cookie, 1984

Thirty-three years later, in 2017, Girl Scouts celebrated 100 years of cookie sales.

White circle patch says Cookie Troop 100
100th Anniversary, 2017

50 + 33 = 83?

Maybe the Math Whiz badge needs to return.

Teen Uniforms Take Preppy Turn

Girl Scout Cadette and Senior uniforms from the 1980s
Cadette/Senior Uniform, 1980s

New uniforms for Cadettes and Seniors (no Ambassadors until 2008) were introduced in 1980. For the first time, both levels shared the same skirt, pants, vest, and sash. They were distinguished by plaid blouses. The Cadette plaid was predominantly green, the Seniors blue. Catalogs described the green pieces as “apple green,” but it was more like Girl Scout guacamole.

I Earned the Gold Award

Robertson Gold Award certificate
Robertson Gold

The Gold Award was introduced in 1980 as the highest award available to Girl Scouts. I volunteered at my local council office, and they handed me the guidelines. Staff said, “We know you’re going to earn it. We’re also going to send every question about the process to you.”

I earned my Gold Award in 1983. Today, I am still mentoring future golden girls as a member of my council’s Gold Award Panel.

History by Decade 1980s
History by Decade 1980s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1960s

The 1960s began with a bang, as the Girl Scouts celebrated its 50th birthday in 1962.

New handbooks and uniform hats on the cover of the October 1963 Leader magazine.
Leader Magazine, October 1963

One year later, the organization dramatically reimagined age levels, badges, and more. The Intermediate age level split into Juniors and Cadettes in 1963. Intermediate level badges were divided between the two groups, with green borders for Juniors and gold borders for Cadettes.

For the first time in history, new handbooks for all levels were released at the same time. The new books featured a consistent design and were small enough to comfortably fit in a girl’s hand. (A second new-handbooks-for-everyone release came in 2011 with the current Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, which are the size of the average Daisy.)

Also in 1963, the small councils and Lone Troops in the greater Washington region combined to form the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. The council grew again in 2006 and 2009, adding Frederick County, Maryland, and parts of West Virginia and western Maryland.

Councils before 1963
Councils before 1963
Piper Debbie Reynolds leads a parade of uniformed Girl Scouts
Piper Debbie Reynolds

Actress Debbie Reynolds, an accomplished Girl Scout herself, led the multi-year Piper Project to recruit new members.

Travel opportunities flourished, as well. In 1968, GSUSA purchased 15,000 acres of rugged land in Wyoming to create the first Girl Scout National Center west of the Mississippi River. National Center West hosted thousands of girls for primitive camping, archaeology studies, and horseback opportunities until it closed in 1989.

Collection of yellow oval embroidered patches for the Girl Scout National Center West
National Center West patches from the Vintage GS Online Museum

The World Association for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts opened a fourth world center, Sangam, in Pune, India, in 1966. Traveling troops now had an Asian destination in addition to Our Chalet (Switzerland), Olave House (London), and Our Cabana (Mexico).

The 1969 National Council Session in Seattle, Washington, established the priorities for the 1970s. These included remaining a uniformed movement, creating a membership that reflected society, updating the Promise and Laws, and eliminating prejudice. The Council also approved an increase in annual membership dues, from $1 to $2.

History by Decade 1960s
History by Decade 1960s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1950s

Pages from GSL 1950 10 October
National Volunteer Mary H.S. Hayes with Congressional Charter (Leader October 1950)

The Girl Scouts received a Congressional charter in 1950 and a new name. “Girl Scouts of the United States of America” replaced the “Girl Scouts, Inc.” that had been used since 1915.

Girl Scouting thrived in the 1950s as the post-war Baby Boom meant millions of girls wanting to join. Membership grew from 630,000 in 1940 to 1 million in 1950.

Increasing demand for opportunities led to new programs. GSUSA launched the Green Umbrella campaign to consolidate councils, bring lone troops into the council structure, and streamline program delivery. Officials emphasized the new opportunities that would result, such as additional camp properties and better collaboration among Senior Girl Scout troops.

Three girls in Girl Scout uniforms huddle under a green umbrella
Green Umbrella program patch

GSUSA developed new, narrowly focused programs that would make teen girls want to stay in Girl Scouts, especially the Senior Roundups. (Problems with retaining older girls? Some things never change.)

GSUSA responded to the enormous social changes that accompanied the emerging Cold War and defense buildup. One initiative focused on my hometown, Paducah, Kentucky, and the massive influx of families (and daughters) to work at a new plutonium processing facility.

There were some councils, mainly in the south, that still practiced segregation. But by the 1950s, many began to reconsider their policies and could no longer reconcile segregation with “For All Girls.”

History by Decade 1950s
History by Decade 1950s

in 1955, the Girl Scouts of Washington DC and Montgomery County, Maryland*, desegregated their flagship outdoor property, Camp May Flather, located in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia.

Camp May Flather’s desegregation came one year after the US Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, decision. It would take another four years before Virginia began to desegregate its public school system.

*The current Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital did not exist before 1963. Instead, the Washington area was dotted with smaller councils, with (almost) each county having its own.

Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1940s

Only six weeks left until March 12, 2022, the 110th birthday of the Girl Scouts of the USA!

In the 1940s, World War II defined activities across the United States, including the Girl Scouts. Most councils had already introduced a civil-defense component into their programs so girls were ready to help out on the home front. Within hours of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Girl Scouts of Hawaii rallied to clear debris and offer a range of support services.

The February 1942 issue of Leader magazine was devoted to the war effort. Each age group had a role to perform–and often they could earn a badge in the process.

List of war service related Girl Scout badges in 1942.
From February 1942 Leader Magazine

High-school age Girl Scouts could join the Senior Service Scouts program and perform war-related service, such as airplane spotting.

Girl Scout civil defense logo, red trefoil on white triangle with blue background.
Senior Service Scout Insignia

The Traveling Women’s History Museum has a delightful 10-minute video about Girl Scouts in World War II. The museum began as a Girl Scout Gold Award project by Rachael McCullough of the Girl Scout Council of Eastern Pennsylvania. (The link above is to a Facebook page, scroll down for the video.)

Her video would make a great troop or service unit meeting topic!

Highlights of Girl Scout history in the 1940s.
History by Decade 1940s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge

Girl Scouts Look Back 110 Years: 1930s

The Girl Scouts of the USA turns 110 years old on March 12, 2022.

In the 1930s, individual Girl Scout troops began to group together as councils or associations.

Adults worried over how to keep older girls engaged, and GSUSA responded with innovative programming.

High school girls now had their very own membership pin, whose design inspired the Gold Award pin. The successful Mariner program would lead to other challenging programs for Senior Girl Scouts, including wing, horseback, and hospital aide.

The entire organization also began to incorporate civil-defense activities, which would come in handy in the 1940s.

Highlights of Girl Scout history in the 1930s
History by Decade 1930s
Two girls hang a wooden sign outside a building
Girls hang a sign at Weston Lodge