We’ve all heard of the more well-known women, like those mentioned above, but how much do we know about those women who came from our own great state? Take Juliette Gordon Low for example.
Born in Savannah in 1860 and affectionately known as “Daisy”, Low grew up in Savannah, leaving only as a teenager to attend school. After marrying Englishman William Mackay Low in 1886, Low moved to England but came back during the Spanish-American war to help. After returning to England and her husband’s subsequent death in 1905, Low was left wondering what to do with her life. She met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, in 1911, and discovered her passion for helping young women and soon moved back to America. According to her official biography, that year she made a historic telephone call to a friend (a distant cousin), saying, "I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!"
Low started the America Girl Guides on March 12, 1912, with her niece Margaret "Daisy Doots" Gordon as the first official member – a total of 18 girls joined that day. The following year Low changed the name to Girl Scouts.
Today, the Girl Scouts has more than 3.7 million members and is dedicated to building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. Over the years, more than 50 million American women have learned and grown by being part of the Girl Scouts – a fact Low would be very proud of.
For more information on women in history, check out these Web sites: http://www.nwhp.org/ and http://www.georgiawomen.org./
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