BSA History

1990

Membership during the year is 5,445,899. Youth membership experiences its 11th straight annual increase.

The 10th Edition of the Handbook differs most obviously from other recent editions by the use of color photographs (over 900 of them) in addition to numerous color drawings and is about a hundred pages longer than the last edition. Even the cover consists of photos (another first). This is definitely the heaviest Handbook; at a full inch thick (25 mm), it ties the 8th Edition in bulk, but it has nearly 40% more pages. The 10th Edition represents a Scouting program very similar to the program in use before 1972.

The BSA changes the background colors of most badges to be similar to pre-1972 badges, including a return to green bars for troop offices instead of silver and gold bars used from 1972-89. Skill awards are dropped, but skills are still grouped by subject rather than rank.

1991

Membership during the year is 5,319,226.

Scouting continues to respond to pressing societal changes by seeking new ways to meet young people's needs. A primary goal, to contact all youth who would benefit from Scouting, was furthered by the BSA's Learning for Life subsidiary, which took a values-based curriculum into the classroom to reach children who would not otherwise be in a character-building youth program. Reaching out to a growing segment of the population, Hispanic Emphasis placed professional staff in local councils to support Scouting in Hispanic communities. Cub Scouting introduced two programs: Ethics in Action to promote ethical decision making, and the BSA family program to strengthen the family from within.

Membership grows for the tenth consecutive year in Tiger Cubs, BSA; participation increases in Cub Scouting's day, family, and resident camping. Boy Scouting's outdoor programs also expand. New outdoor skills instruction seminars increase Scout leaders' confidence in teaching skills to Scouts. A newly published Conservation Handbook promises to become an essential reference for Scout leaders and conservation project managers. The TRAIL Boss program (Teaching Resources And Individual Leadership) is developed by BSA and seven federal agencies to teach volunteers conservation skills. Four new merit badge subjects are introduced.

More than a thousand BSA members attend the 17th World Jamboree in Korea.

Scouts continue to combat the five unacceptables: drug abuse, child abuse, illiteracy, youth unemployment, and hunger.

The national Good Turn, Scouting for Food, is the largest food collection effort in the United States in 1991.

Exploring emphasizes career preparation for young men and women through formation of community-sponsored posts; a new video, Moments in Common, introduces values-based post Advisor training.

The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund awards a $2.3 million grant for BSA professional recruitment. Redbook magazine's October 1991 issue carries sixteen pages about Scouting; the special supplement titled ''The Adventure Begins!'' draws an enthusiastic response from parents.

In a year that sees several eastern European countries determined to provide Scouting for their young people, BSA funds training for Scout leaders from the former Soviet Union, funds the writing of the Russian Scout handbook, sponsors the first Czechoslovakian and Hungarian youth leaders participating in the International Camp Staff program, and hosts a Czechoslovakian Scouting professional at BSA National Executive Institute training.

1992

Membership during the year is 5,339,660.

The Boy Scouts of America moves forward to meet the future with a commitment to make Scouting more widely available than ever. Analysis of future needs leads to implementation of the BSA's new Strategic Plan to guide the Scouting movement through the 1990s and prepare it for the twenty-first century. The plan restructures the six BSA regions into four and addresses the need for local councils to prepare to serve the steadily increasing number of youths who could benefit from Scouting. A new Urban Emphasis encouraged Cub Scout packs, Boy Scout troops, and Explorer posts to form in low-income and minority communities. Hispanic Emphasis, in its third year, increases the bilingual publication of Scouting literature to serve Spanish-speaking parents and leaders.

A grant from the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund launches a college internship program aimed at enlarging the pool of female and ethnic minority candidates for professional Scouting positions.

School-based Learning for Life, designed to teach positive values and life skills in a classroom setting, completes its first full year of operation; nearly 700,000 youth participate.

Committed to assisting the emerging Association of Siberian Scouts, the BSA sends an experienced Scouting professional to work in Siberia, and facilitates the first Scout exchange between BSA local councils and Scouts in Perm, Russia.

A Cub Scout Academics program debuts.

Boy Scout summer camping attracts 70.1 percent of Scout troops and 55.2 percent of all Scouts, the highest percentages on record. Exciting new outdoor and service adventures are introduced through the TRAIL Boss program for conservation education and natural resource stewardship.

Emphasis on growth in traditional Exploring results in substantial increases in membership and posts.

The national Good Turn, Scouting for Food, is once again the nation's largest food collection effort. The ability of Scouts and leaders to respond at a moment's notice was demonstrated in the wake of Hurricane Andrew, when Scouts bring to the devastated area food, clothing, and hands to help.

John L. Clendenin, chairman and chief executive officer of BellSouth Corporation and a Silver Buffalo Award recipient, is elected national BSA president. Jere B. Ratcliffe, a Distinguished Eagle Scout, is chosen to succeed Ben H. Love as Chief Scout Executive, the BSA's top professional leader (assuming office in 1993).

1993

Membership during the year is 5,355,401.

On February 1, Jere B. Ratcliffe becomes the BSA's ninth Chief Scout Executive.

The BSA implements programs to advance its National Strategic Plan in four areas critical to growth and a quality Scouting program: traditional unit growth, Urban Emphasis, endowment emphasis, and positive public relations. To go where youth are and where Scouting is most needed, the BSA devises strategies to bring Scouting to the nation's urban areas. With the new Operation First Class initiative, efforts to reach urban youth received board-level attention from local councils. Professional staff members from councils throughout the nation participate in seminars on the needs of urban youth.

A new Train-the-Trainer Conference manual is produced to train the people who train leaders in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, Exploring, commissioner service, and district and council Scouting.

Nearly 480,000 Boy Scouts, representing more than 55 percent of Scout membership and more than 70 percent of units, go camping in 1993. Cub Scout camping draws nearly 573,000 youth, including 5,000 new campers. Nearly 26,000 boys ages 12 to 18, from every state and sixty-four countries, attend the 1993 National Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. More than 25,000 youth participated in challenging outdoor activities at the BSA's high-adventure bases.

The Council Exploring Growth Plan achieves its third consecutive year of membership growth, adding 13,810 to Exploring's 1992 membership. More schools adopt the BSA's popular Learning for Life program. In its second year of operation, Learning for Life brings positive values and essential life skills to nearly 738,000 students in classrooms nationwide. Educators and council professionals attend the first Learning for Life conference.

Organizers of the Scouting movement in the countries of the former Soviet Union turn to the BSA for help in producing the first Russian Scout Handbook; 20,000 copies are distributed.

The BSA establishes a new award, named the James E. West Fellowship Award in honor of the first Chief Scout Executive, to recognize major contributors to council endowment trust funds.

1994

Membership during the year is 5,377,920.

The BSA launches Operation First Class to extend Scouting to greater numbers of disadvantaged minority youths in urban areas.

It is a record year for Eagle Scouts, with 37,438 young men earning the highest rank a Scout or Explorer can achieve.

The Family Life merit badge becomes a requirement for the Eagle Scout rank.

Cub Scout Leader Basic Training is streamlined and redesigned to attract more leaders.

1995

Membership during the year is 5,456,617. Emphasis on traditional unit growth and unit-serving executives net a membership increase in every major program area.

The National Campaign for Local Council Endowment identifies more than $86 million in deferred gifts and generates $51 million in bequests.

A study released in 1995, The Values of Men and Boys in America, conducted by Louis Harris & Associates, shows that Scouting can positively affect the lives of America's youth.

Exploring membership reaches an all-time high and registers its fifth consecutive year of growth with a total of more than 400,000 young adult members.

Cub Scouting launches Supplemental Training for Cub Scout Leaders. Boy Scouting completes a long-range plan for selecting and recruiting quality leaders, developing and maintaining a quality program, and stimulating membership growth.

1996

Membership during the year is 5,628,806. Membership rises in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Exploring.

Operation: Tiger Mania rolls out, producing a 6.8 percent increase in Tiger Cub membership.

A new Project COPE (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) guidebook puts the BSA at the forefront of challenge-course technology.

Exploring membership reaches an all-time high of 422,366. Learning for Life continues to grow, reaching 880,422 students.

The BSA Crime Prevention program and merit badge are introduced.

New Rural Emphasis materials were introduced to support field staff in non-urban communities.

1997

Membership during the year is 5,835,287. Continued focus on traditional unit growth and retention of membership leads to continued gains in Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Exploring.

The 14th National Scout Jamboree, held at Fort A.P. Hill, Va., is attended by 35,000 Boy Scouts and leaders.

The percentage of trained Cub Scout adult leaders increases to 40 percent—a gain of 9 percent over 1996.

Long-term camping reaches its highest level ever with 57.7 percent of all Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts participating.

The BSA identifies more than $1 billion in current and deferred gifts committed to councils as a result of the Nationally Coordinated Campaign for Local Council Endowment.

1998

Membership during the year is 6,186,657. Membership continues to grow in Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting.

Venturing, a program for 14- to 20-year-old men and women, is introduced and posted an impressive first-year membership of 188,075.

The new 11th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook is published. Its first printing yields 750,000 copies, bringing the total circulation of the Handbook since 1910 to nearly 36,000,000.

The National Leadership Training Conference is held for the first time in 30 years at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. It is attended by more than 4,000 members of the professional Scouting family who learn more about the National Executive Board's new strategic plan introduced in 1998.

More than 4.4 million Scouts log 52,908,746 hours of community service as part of "America's Promise—The Alliance for Youth" to provide more than 200 million hours of service by the year 2000. In addition, 802,880 youth in 39,162 Scouting units collect more than 41 million cans of food to help feed the hungry.