Girl Scouts: 3/12/1912

Juliette Low began the Girls Scouts, MARCH 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia.

Chronic ear infections as a child made one ear deaf. A grain of rice thrown at her wedding lodged in her other ear, which was punctured by the procedure to remove it.

Juliette Low's father, a U.S. Army General, was previously a Civil War Confederate captain. In the Spanish-American War, Juliette Low and her mother organized a convalescent hospital for wounded soldiers returning from Cuba.

After her husband's death in 1905, Juliette Low traveled to England where in 1911 she met Boar War hero Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts. They were engaged to be married, but the wedding was cancelled.

Returning to America, Juliette Low founded Girl Guides. Dying of breast cancer in 1927, she was buried in her uniform. The Girl Scout oath was "On my honor, I will try: to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, to obey the Girl Scout laws."

In 1995, Patti Garibay, a former Girl Scout leader, founded the family-friendly American Heritage Girls, serving thousands of girls with troops in over 32 states. The American Heritage Girls' Oath is "I promise to love God, Cherish my family, Honor my country, and Serve in my community."

American Minute with Bill Federer