About this collection
The digital collection of the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia (GSCV) records is composed of photographs that chronicle the evolution of Girl Scouting in the greater Richmond, Virginia area. The collection ranges in date from the 1910s through the 1960s, and includes photographs of troops, camp events, medaling ceremonies, and more.
Per the finding aid for the collection, the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia Council began in 1963, following a merger between the Girl Scouts of Richmond and the Girl Scouts of Southside Virginia councils which was intended to provide more extensive services to Scouts in central Virginia. However, these councils were not the start of Girl Scouting in the area, though few records of the earliest days remain. Using Boy Scout manuals and enlisting the guidance of the director of the Richmond Boy Scouts, area girls recruited adult leaders and began informal scouting groups. In November 1913, the first official Girl Scout troop in Virginia, Pansy Troop Number 1, was formed in Highland Springs.
The Girl Scouts of Richmond Council was formally organized on April 12, 1921 at the first Council Meeting, held at the Jefferson Hotel with 35 adult members, 11 troops, and 75 girls. The council received its official charter on May 10 of that year, and in 1928, under the leadership of Commissioner Ruth Robertson McGuire, the Richmond Council was incorporated by the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. Over the years, the councils that became the Commonwealth Council have provided programs and opportunities for girls to explore, learn, and build character through STEM, environmental stewardship, financial literacy, camping events, homemaking, and first aid.
Race and the history of segregation are integral to materials from Commonwealth Council of the Girl Scouts of Virginia records. Until the 1960s, the Girl Scouts of Richmond was a racially exclusive organization, open only to white girls and women. The first known Black Scouting group in Richmond did not begin until 1932, when Troop 34, the first Black Girl Scout troop south of the Potomac River, was established by Lena B. Watson of Virginia Union University (VUU). The Richmond council refused to consider it. The National Girl Scouting Headquarters became involved, forcing the Richmond council to allow the troop to form. In June 1932, the first Black troop formed at Hartshorn Hall at VUU with high school teacher Lavinia Banks as their leader.
Troops in Virginia remained segregated until the 1960s, with the Fort Lee troop integrating in 1963 and segregated troops ending by 1968. Due to this history, race related descriptive information is included in metadata records for materials. Race information specified by Special Collections and Archives processors is included in the metadata. When race has not been specified, the language of "appears to be white," "appears to be Black" is used on the record to describe unidentified individuals. It is important to not only identify individuals of non-white identities, as not naming whiteness contributes to whiteness becoming a "default" in archival description. It can be difficult and problematic to attempt to determine race based on visuals, and it is acknowledged that many of the individuals who appear white in modern conceptualizations of race would not have been considered white in their own time periods. However, as we have a historic record of Girl Scout troops in Virginia being exclusively white until 1932, images before this date have the "appears to be white" language throughout. This decision was inspired by description decisions from Duke University’s Rubenstein Library and the Harvard University Center for the History of Medicine.
Additional research information
The Commonwealth Council of the Girl Scouts of Virginia records are housed in the Special Collections and Archives housed in Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library. The finding aid is available here.
Copyright
This collection is of mixed copyright status and includes items that are in the public domain as well as items that are of unknown copyright status. See individual items for item-specific copyright information.
Credits
This collection was digitized by Cynthia Blaise, Naomy Cardoso Perez, Katie Condon, and Susan Grube in 2023-2024. Katie Condon supervised student employees, digitization, and quality control. Digital Initiatives Librarian Irina Rogova created the metadata in 2024. Much of the text for this landing page was sourced from the finding aid created by Processing Archivist Jessica E. Johnson.
