In this article, we will explore the topic of The Ideal Scout from different perspectives and with a broad focus. The Ideal Scout is a topic that has generated great interest and debate in today's society, and its relevance cuts across different areas of daily life. Throughout this article, we will examine the different aspects that make up The Ideal Scout, analyzing their impact in different contexts and their influence on society in general. From its origin to its current evolution, passing through its implications in the personal, professional and social sphere, we will delve into the complexity of The Ideal Scout and its multiple facets. Through this analysis, we seek to offer a comprehensive and enriching vision that invites reflection and debate about The Ideal Scout and its place in our contemporary reality.
McKenzie sat on the executive board of the Boy Scouts organization in Philadelphia for more than 20 years. Asked to produce a figure of "an ideal scout," the sculptor chose several young scouts to model in uniform. In 1915, he gave the executive board an 18-inch bronze figure, together with rights to the royalties resulting from sales of copies. He said that the boy's uncovered head denoted reverence, obedience to authority, and discipline. The hatchet held by the scout is a symbol of truthfulness and the hope it would never be unsheathed for wanton destruction, but "applied unceasingly to the neck of treachery, treason, cowardice, discourtesy, dishonesty, and dirt."
McKenzie's life-sized version of the work was unveiled at Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council on June 12, 1937.
The Philadelphia headquarters was built by the Boy Scouts of America on city-owned land in 1929, with the council paying a nominal $1-per-year rent. In 2008, the City of Philadelphia filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit in response to the BSA's national policy of excluding openly gay scout leaders, demanding that the Cradle of Liberty Council defy the BSA policy, pay a market-rate rent on the building, or vacate it. The council won the lawsuit in Federal court, and the judge ordered the city to pay its $877,000 in legal fees. Instead, the city settled with the council, paying the bulk of its legal fees but requiring it to vacate the building. The Ideal Scout was removed in 2013.
Partial list of locations
Statuette
Brookings Library Brookings, South Dakota
Philadelphia Museum of Art (1915) 18-inch statuette - accession number 42-7-1
St. Louis, Missouri
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Statue
Allentown, Pennsylvania (1975)
Ann Arbor, Michigan (1980)
Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Area Council Volunteer Service Center)
Baltimore, Maryland, (1937)
Cleveland, Ohio (1962)
Davie, Florida - South Florida Council, Tatham Scout Service Center (2023)
Delray Beach, Florida
Denver, Colorado - Hamilton Scout Headquarters
Detroit, Michigan (1965)
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (1972)
Elbert Colorado - McNeil Scout Ranch at Peaceful Valley (1973)
Farmington, Pennsylvania (1991)
Fort Worth, Texas (1956)
Goshen, Virginia - Goshen Scout Reservation
Greenburg, Pennsylvania (1982)
Hudson, Wisconsin - Lakefront Park (2009)
Indianapolis, Indiana (1990)
Irving, Texas (1979)
Jackson, Mississippi (1937)
Kalamazoo (Texas Township), Michigan (2015)
Lakeland, Florida (Publix Corporate Office)
Kansas City, Missouri (Heart of America Council Service Center) (1937)
Kenai, Alaska - Eric Hansen Park (1997)
Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1995)
Ligonier, Pennsylvania (1937)
Mansfield, Ohio (Heart of Ohio Council Service Center)
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (1978)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1985)
Mobile, Alabama (Mobile Area Council)
Morganville (Marlboro Township), New Jersey
Naperville, Illinois
Ogden, Utah
Ottawa, Illinois (1941) - grave of William D. Boyce, founder of the Boy Scouts of America
^Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook, p. 49. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison