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Technology has once again conspired to try and stop Artifact of the Week, but alas we have prevailed. This week it is part two of our look at the amazingly detailed and interesting scrapbook assembled by three Sacramento Scouts documenting their trip from California to Washington DC despite the 1935 Jamboree having been cancelled. This week we follow their adventures from Chicago to Ann Arbor, ...

Scrapbooks, photo albums, and diaries can give us a very personal insight into a period of time or an event or even fill in the details of a historical moment. This week, we are going to see how one Troop and specifically three Scouts from the Sacramento, California, area, handled the cancellation of the 1935 National Jamboree. Over the next three weeks, we will follow their journey from prepar...

Originally, he was named Henry Ray, but he changed his middle name to Ross in honor of his older brother, Gabriel Ross, who died as a young child. Thereafter, he went by Ross Perot. Even though he was irritated by the practice, journalists often included his first initial in media reports, naming him H. Ross Perot. Based on an oral history recording produced by the National Scouting Museum in 2...

We have told the stories of Green Bar Bill several times, but whether it is a traditionally researched piece or an interview with a GBB expert like Nelson Block, the stories take on a whole new meaning when they come from GBB himself. This week, we are treated to an excerpt from an oral history interview recorded by the National Scouting Museum back in 1992 with William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcou...

Animatronic Baden-Powell interacts with an animated Pee Wee Harris of Boys' Life fame.

“To help other people at all times” and “To do a good turn daily.” These statements are part of the core values that make Scouting one of the greatest youth leadership and character development programs available. Since 1910, Scouts have been putting these ideals into practice through community service projects, whether these have been individual service projects completed to meet a rank requir...

Earlier this year, a very generous donor gifted six of the Henry BSA Commemorative Rifles to the National Scouting Museum. This week, we are going to check out these beautiful firearms and learn about the history of Marksmanship in Scouting America. In addition to the rifles you will see in this segment, Ruger also made a commemorative rifle for the BSA, and there is at least one Daisy BB Gun m...

Museum collections are full of items that sometimes make you scratch your head, wondering what they are, where they came from, and how they got into your collection. Earlier this summer, the State of New Mexico Office of Public Records and Archives started planning an Archives Bizarre Bazaar event to showcase some of the unique, kooky, artistic, weird, and, yes, just plain bizarre artifacts fou...

One of the most popular rooms during a Villa Philmonte Tour is the Trophy Room, in particular, checking out the Trapper’s Closet, where Waite Phillips would store all of the outdoor gear needed for the family and their guests to enjoy an outdoor adventure in the Philmont backcountry. On display in the Trapper’s Closet, as well as in other locations around the Villa, you will find several firear...

So how can a Scout or Scouter share their adventures with others in a highly visible manner? The patch vest/jacket or brag rag, of course. These wearable billboards got their start in an unlikely place, and they are not as common today as they were just a few short years ago. If you have been a Scout or Scouter for any length of time, you have probably seen one of these and wondered how they ca...

While it is quite possible that the cross is one of the oldest symbols known to man, it also seems that one particular version goes back nearly 15,000 years and was discovered in 1908 in modern-day Ukraine during an archeological dig. Despite its current reputation as a symbol of hatred and evil, the Swastika started as a symbol of good luck and prosperity. From 1908 until 1936, the swastika wa...

On a small island in the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, you will find Treasure Island Scout Camp and the Goodman-Edson Museum. Scouts began camping at TI in 1913, and the Philadelphia Council leased the island from the Ridge family until 1920, when the Council acquired the property with the assistance of Oscar G. Worman and Edward Bok. For the next 95 years, TI operated as ...

Despite technology's attempt to stop Artifact of the Week, here is last week's delayed episode. Back in the summer of 2022, we shared with you a photo album of a couple of Scouts on a New England bike trip. We didn't have much information except the photos and handwritten notes found on the pages of the album. Then, Collections Curator Crysant Elliot found some additional photo albums, includin...

The 1924 World Jamboree brought about several changes to Scouting, such as participants sleeping in tents by patrols and troops. The Jamboree also featured the only time when Scouts from different nations participated in Scout skills competitions. Following the Jamboree, Baden Powell decided that this level of competition could lead to extreme nationalism, which would counter his idea that Scou...

Artifact of the Week 20240906 Seton Library

Artifact of the Week 20240830 - Gettysburg Badge

Artifact of the Week 20240823 - Cimarron & Northwestern Railway Part 2

Artifact of the Week 20240816 - Logging and Railroads in Colfax County

Artifact of the Week 20240809 - Billy Clark Story

Artifact of the Week 20240802 - NOAC GEO

Artifact of the Week 20240719 reedit - Wood Carving

Artifact of the Week 20240726 - Japan's Unknown Scout Memorial

Artifact of the Week 20240712 - Boy Rangers of America

Artifact of the Week 20240705 - Maverick Club Rodeo Programs

Artifact of the Week 20240628 - Scouting's Founding Documents

Artifact of the Week 20240621 - Boys' Life Story

Artifact of the Week 20240614 - Adult Female Leaders

Artifact of the Week 20240607 - Female Youth Members of Scouting America

Artifact of the Week DELAYED - May 31, 2024