Modern Manhood and the Boy Scouts of America

Citizenship, Race, and the Environment, 1910-1930

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Men&, Business & Finance, Management & Leadership, Leadership
Cover of the book Modern Manhood and the Boy Scouts of America by Benjamin René Jordan, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Benjamin René Jordan ISBN: 9781469627663
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: March 7, 2016
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Benjamin René Jordan
ISBN: 9781469627663
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: March 7, 2016
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

In this illuminating look at gender and Scouting in the United States, Benjamin Rene Jordan examines how in its founding and early rise, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) integrated traditional Victorian manhood with modern, corporate-industrial values and skills. While showing how the BSA Americanized the original British Scouting program, Jordan finds that the organization's community-based activities signaled a shift in men's social norms, away from rugged agricultural individualism or martial primitivism and toward productive employment in offices and factories, stressing scientific cooperation and a pragmatic approach to the responsibilities of citizenship.

By examining the BSA's national reach and influence, Jordan demonstrates surprising ethnic diversity and religious inclusiveness in the organization's founding decades. For example, Scouting officials' preferred urban Catholic and Jewish working-class immigrants and "modernizable" African Americans and Native Americans over rural whites and other traditional farmers, who were seen as too "backward" to lead an increasingly urban-industrial society. In looking at the revered organization's past, Jordan finds that Scouting helped to broaden mainstream American manhood by modernizing traditional Victorian values to better suit a changing nation.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this illuminating look at gender and Scouting in the United States, Benjamin Rene Jordan examines how in its founding and early rise, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) integrated traditional Victorian manhood with modern, corporate-industrial values and skills. While showing how the BSA Americanized the original British Scouting program, Jordan finds that the organization's community-based activities signaled a shift in men's social norms, away from rugged agricultural individualism or martial primitivism and toward productive employment in offices and factories, stressing scientific cooperation and a pragmatic approach to the responsibilities of citizenship.

By examining the BSA's national reach and influence, Jordan demonstrates surprising ethnic diversity and religious inclusiveness in the organization's founding decades. For example, Scouting officials' preferred urban Catholic and Jewish working-class immigrants and "modernizable" African Americans and Native Americans over rural whites and other traditional farmers, who were seen as too "backward" to lead an increasingly urban-industrial society. In looking at the revered organization's past, Jordan finds that Scouting helped to broaden mainstream American manhood by modernizing traditional Victorian values to better suit a changing nation.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Schools in Transition by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book The View from the Masthead by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book New World Cities by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Living at the Water's Edge by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Pecans by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Children of Reunion by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Turned Inside Out: Black, White, and Irish in the South by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book From Welfare to Workfare by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Catfish by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Hearthside Cooking by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Slavery in North Carolina, 1748-1775 by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Imagining the Middle East by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Slavery and Politics in the Early American Republic by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Wouldn't Take Nothin' For My Journey Now by Benjamin René Jordan
Cover of the book Moments of Despair by Benjamin René Jordan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy