The First Eagle

[smtroop168]

Let's lead this forum off with a dedication to Arthur Rose Eldred, the 1st Eagle Scout.

[jr56]

How appropriate, I think this will be a good forum.

[pipestone1991]

Wow......95 years of eagle scouts.....hope i can get mine soon!

[Scouting179]

See the article "Arthur Rose Eldred" on wikipedia.

[scouter01]

Wasn't eagle ,uch easier then? my grandmas friend got it in the 30's, and he said they didn't have to do a project. just marit badges and a few other things.

[optimist]

Wasn't eagle ,uch easier then? my grandmas friend got it in the 30's, and he said they didn't have to do a project. just marit badges and a few other things.

Yes but they had to walk five miles to school in the snow

Seriously, I wouldn't think any less about those Eagles because they had different requirements than an Eagle Scout does today. The times were different. Most Scouts during the first half of the 20th century also had lots of responsibilities on the family farm or in the family business. As time went on and leisure time grew, the BSA changed the rules to take advantage of that extra time. They asked more of the Scouts and in the process may have helped replace some of the self-discipline lost because boys no longer had days filled to the brim with responsibilities. The final result then and now was a well-rounded young man who understands his duties and works to the betterment of our communities.

[wagionvigil]

Hubert I got my Eagle before projects were required But lets look at some differences to get there.
You could work on 1 rank at a time.
You could not work on Merit Badges until you were first class except for a couple like Nature etc.
You had to learn Morse Code for one of the Ranks 2nd or 1st cannot remember.

Swimming and lifesaving were required not optional required and they were harder then. All strokes had to be perfect and the requirements for LS were close to what you do for BSA Lifeguard today.

In many cases you had to do certain types of merit badges as they were grouped in catagorys. One from this area, 2 from this area,plus these certain required.
Recently at an Eagle BOR it was said about 5 out of a 100 scouts make Eagle. When I got Eagle it was said 1 out of 100 got Eagle?
Are you aware that after WWII there were soldiers that had fought in that war that were allowed to finish their Eagle after Returning and the Troop Adult Leaders were permitted to earn Eagle also.
Any questions?

[smtroop168]

Not to get myself in too much trouble since I'll be on wagionvigil's home turf this weekend but it is amazing that he remembers that far back

I got my medal in 1969 and had to do a Service Project (it took a month) but it wasn't as "regulated" as it is today.

I sent this to the webmaster at eaglescout.org but never got a response:

Hello…I was curious on if your research showed when the Eagle Scout Service Project approval above the SM and Troop Committee level became effective. The 65 requirements say approved by the SM and the 72 ones say SM and Committee. The 99 ones don’t say either one. Thanks.

We are honoring the first Eagle Scout in our troop who got his medal in 1946. I'll ask him what he thinks.

[scouter01]

Wasn't eagle ,uch easier then? my grandmas friend got it in the 30's, and he said they didn't have to do a project. just marit badges and a few other things.

Yes but they had to walk five miles to school in the snow

Seriously, I wouldn't think any less about those Eagles because they had different requirements than an Eagle Scout does today. The times were different. Most Scouts during the first half of the 20th century also had lots of responsibilities on the family farm or in the family business. As time went on and leisure time grew, the BSA changed the rules to take advantage of that extra time. They asked more of the Scouts and in the process may have helped replace some of the self-discipline lost because boys no longer had days filled to the brim with responsibilities. The final result then and now was a well-rounded young man who understands his duties and works to the betterment of our communities.

up hill both ways?

[pipestone1991]

Are you aware that after WWII there were soldiers that had fought in that war that were allowed to finish their Eagle after Returning and the Troop Adult Leaders were permitted to earn Eagle also.
Any questions?

There was no age requirment until 1953.

[Hubert]

Wasn't eagle ,uch easier then? my grandmas friend got it in the 30's, and he said they didn't have to do a project. just marit badges and a few other things.

Yes but they had to walk five miles to school in the snow

.

You forgot uphill both ways. lol.


I too hope to get mine soon, I know I will, Im so very close!

[Scouting179]

One could argue the ranks were easier, but the MBs weren't. Camping required 50 nights, not 20; bird study 100 birds, not 10; etc and so on.

[lifescoutforlife]

Rifle and shot gun was one badge not 2 when I was a scout in the 80's. This was a very hard badge to qualify in rifle, I only knew 1 kid that ever earned it at camp. My son earned both badges at 11 years old.

[Swim4lyfe]

Are you aware that after WWII there were soldiers that had fought in that war that were allowed to finish their Eagle after Returning and the Troop Adult Leaders were permitted to earn Eagle also.
Any questions?

There was no age requirment until 1953.

True; a rather interesting bit of information if I may say.

[Scouting179]

And the last adult made eagle in the late 60s or early 70s because National had a hard time enforcing the rule for a long time. There a nice talk on it in a Scouting magazine article, which is used as a ref in the Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America) article on wikipedia.