It is hard to grasp how prestigious the Boy Scouts were in the early days, but this table of advisors for merit badges gives some idea. Luther Burbank, Teddy Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, John Philip Sousa, Charles Schwab, Thomas Edison, this was like having Bill Gates, John McPhee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Warren Buffett as advisors today.
This list is from the 1919 BSA annual report. As a rough guide to their prominence, I’ve linked to a Wikipedia page for each person where I could find one. Over 2/3 of them have Wikipedia pages. A few more have New York Times obits or well-known publications.
| Expertise | Advisor |
|---|---|
| Agriculture | Luther Burbank |
| Angling | Henry Van Dyke |
| Archery | Robert Lawrence |
| Architecture | Charles F. McKim |
| Art | Charles Dana Gibson |
| Astronomy | Garrett P. Serviss |
| Athletics | Dr. C. Ward Crampton |
| Automobiling | Roy D. Chapin |
| Aviation | Augustus Post |
| Bee Keeping | W. Parker Smith |
| Bird Study | Dr. William T. Hornaday |
| Business | Charles M. Schwab |
| Camping | Warren H. Miller |
| Carpentry | Charles G. Wheeler |
| Chemistry | Col. Marston T. Bogart |
| Civics | Col. Theodore Roosevelt |
| Conservation | Gifford Pinchot |
| Cooking | Horace Kephart |
| Cycling | Frank Kramer |
| Dairying | B. H. Rawl |
| Electricity | Thomas A. Edison |
| Firemanship | John Kenlon |
| First Aid | Col. Charles Lynch |
| First Aid to Animals | Dr. R. S. Ditmars |
| Forestry | Col. Henry S. Graves |
| Gardening | Hal. B. Fullerton |
| Handicraft | George G. Fielding |
| Hiking | Dr. John H. Finley |
| Horsemanship | Col. Milton F. Davis |
| Machinery | John M. Phillips |
| Marksmanship | Gen. Geo. W. Wingate |
| Masonry | J. Waldo Smith |
| Mining | Thomas Leggett |
| Music and Bugling | Lt. John Philip Sousa |
| Painting | W. A. Cottingham |
| Pathfinding | Dillon Wallace |
| Personal Health | Dr. George J. Fisher |
| Photography | Wallace Nutting |
| Physical Development | Walter Camp |
| Pioneering | Gen. George W. Goethals |
| Poultry Keeping | James E. Rice |
| Printing | Charles Francis |
| Public Health | Surgeon General Rupert Blue |
| Safety First | Lew R. Palmer |
| Scholarship | Dr. Charles W. Elliott |
| Sculpture | A. P. Proctor |
| Seamanship | Rear Adm. Austin M. Knight |
| Signaling | George Owen Squier |
| Stalking | Belmore Browne |
| Surveying | Frederick K. Vreeland |
| Swimming | W. E. Longfellow |
Let’s talk about some of the people who aren’t as well known these days. Roy D. Chapin was the co-founder of Hudson Motor Company and US Secretary of Commerce under Herbert Hoover. Warren H. Miller was the editor of Field & Stream and designed the Forester tent. Horace Kephart was the author of Camping and Woodcraft and the foremost authority on back country camping. Walter Camp was a Yale football coach who invented the line of scrimmage and the system of downs. Frank Kramer won 16 consecutive national cycling championships from 1901 to 1916. B. H. Rawl was the Chief of the United State Dairy Division. John Kenlon was the Chief of the New York Fire Department and wrote Fires and Firefighters, a comprehensive history of firefighting. Dr. John H. Finley, editor of the New York Times, offered a medal to anyone walking 1000 miles in a year. He walked 1800 miles in a year and promoted walking around the island of Manhattan. George W. Goethals oversaw the construction of the Panama Canal. James E. Rice was professor of poultry husbandry at Cornell. Charles Francis was the founder of the Printer’s League in New York. Dr. Charles W. Elliott was president of Harvard University. Charles G. Wheeler was the author of Woodworking for Beginners.
I’ll have to check later annual reports to see who they chose for Wireless.
Who would you like to see as advisers for merit badges today? For backpacking, I’d ask Ryan Jordan and Andrew Skurka. I’d go to a program at Philmont Training Center led by either of them.
See page 92 in the Tenth Annual Report of the Boy Scouts of America, 1919 online, or this page image.
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