Locating Slavery's Legacies @ Sewanee: The University of the South

Memorial Object

Plaque/Marker

Enslaver

Jim Crow

Gordon Low, Juliette

Stone memorializing Juliette Gordon Low

The “Walk of Fame” was created in 1929 by then-President Hamilton Holt to honor significant historical figures. The memorial is located in the center of campus around Mills Lawn.

The stone, placed in 1960, commemorated the 100th birthday of Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927) , the founder of Girls Scouts of America. Gordon Low was born to an elite Georgian family. Her family owned a plantation and her father, William Gordon, was involved with the cotton industry and served as a captain in the Confederate army. Thus, the family's wealth was largely generated from slavery. However, her mother was from Chicago and was friends with Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. This complex familial background resulted in Juliette having a more neutral stance around race.

When she founded Girls Scouts in 1912, it was under the premise that it would be for every girl. However, Gordon Low left it up to local chapters to decide if they would allow desegregated membership. Gordon Low was afraid that there would be mass resignation from the organization if it formally desegregated. Thus, no Girl Scout chapters in the South had Black members until 1940.

This stone was placed in the Walk of Fame in 1960, a time when the organization was changing and more chapters were recognizing Black troops. In fact, the Girls Scouts began to desegregate most of their troops in the 1950s, to the point that in 1956 Martin Luther King Jr. called the organization a "force for desegregation." The ceremony for the stone placement on October 30 included over 600 local Girl Scouts.

Holt, Hamilton

27 in by 24 in

JULIETTE GORDON LOW
1860-1927
FOUNDER OF GIRL SCOUTING
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
FROM BIRTHPLACE GARDEN

Citrus County Girlscouts and Girlscouts of America

October 30, 1960

1945-1976: Era of Civil Rights Movement and resistance to Civil Rights Movement

Girl Scouts of America

Walk of Fame

Rollins College; Winter Park, Florida

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3269439

Girl Scouting Was Once Segregated

Desegregating the Girl Scouts

Girl Scout Plaques, memorials, and markers.