Introduction
Born Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon, Juliette Gordon Low pioneered the development of the girl scouts movement in the United States and around the world. Also known as Daisy, Low gathered a group of eighteen girls from Nina Pape’s, her cousin, school, which was located in her hometown Savannah, GA with the objective of sharing her plans for a novel outdoors club and educational program for them. This first troop from her hometown in Savannah, founded the girl guides movement, which presently serves millions of women and girls from the United States and the globe alike. Daisy sparked a movement, which inspired women and girls in the middle of the progressive era and during when women were not allowed to vote. This essay assesses the factors, which led to her success. The author finds important familial backgrounds, exposure in England, and her desire to give back to the society as the primary factors, which led to Gordon’s success.
Factors that Made Low Successful
Gordon was successful with her Girl Guides movement because she came from a stable background. The second in a family of six children, Gordon was born to a well-off family in Georgia (Corey, 2016). According to the cited literature, Gordon’s parents sponsored her education, which she mostly accomplished in provide schools. Importantly, one should note that Low’s childhood was marked by the Civil War (1861—1865), which meant that she need the critical help of her parents to manage through the challenges of childhood. Nonetheless, the fact that she came from a rich background meant that she could deal with most of the problems that she encountered, including the threat of being uneducated. According to Wadsworth and Clarion Books (2012), the Civil War compromised the economic wellbeing of most of the families, which affected their ability to pay for tuition and other costs of education. Education plays a significant role in the development of children, which is why one can plausibly argue that Low developed critical of skills that enabled her to learn and maneuver her environment better than what she could have done if she were uneducated. Furthermore, if her family had not had sufficient money to pay for education, Low might have lacked the experience that she used in her emerging adulthood when she interacted with persons from different backgrounds because her future was significantly founded on the capacity to handle people from diverse backgrounds.
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Low was also successful with her Guides project because she learned effective leadership skills. According to the previously cited literature, it is known that Low began her movement with only eighteen girls and that she managed to expand it to a global movement with millions of members. Usually, some people struggle growing their businesses and projects because they lack the required management and leadership skills, which was unlike Low because despite being a pioneering project, she realized exponential growth. Importantly, Juliette dealt with people from different backgrounds, which meant that she needed to overcome critical challenges, which required the application of the best management skills. For example, she realized that she needed funds to sustain her project. Low took the responsibility of soliciting funding from donors and charities, and on several occasions she donated to her project with the objective of growing it and ensuring it captured the attention of the world.
Despite the challenge of coming from a country in which girl guides were not a popular idea, Low strived to promote her movement. She fought for what she believed was the right thing to do, which was the need to care for others. While Daisy was a curious girl who ventured to explore the environment around herself, she was severely challenged by the fact that she gradually lost her sense of hearing, especially during her adulthood when she needed it most (Kudlinski, 2015). According to the latter cited literature, Juliette Low had challenges communicating, especially because at times, she did not understand what others said. Nonetheless, she turned this problem into an advantage because she was determined to succeed. At times, some of the women she had chosen to help her in the management of troops gave up, but when they tried to communicate their feelings to her verbally, she pretended that she did not hear what they were saying (Cordery, 2013). The reaction forced the women to stay on and help her in pushing for the dream of establishing and supporting girl guides around the world.
Despite growing up in the United States where the Girl Guide movement was unpopular, Low managed to launch her movement because she developed the required levels of exposure. Low’s biography underscores the importance of her marriage to William Low and her subsequent travel to England in the development of her ambition in two ways. First, one may plausibly argue that she may well have never known of the existence of the Guides Movement if she had not met her husband (Corey, 2016). As the latter author argues, the meeting between Juliette and William was a revelation for her because she begun admiring what William had already been doing with the scouts movement. Precisely, William inspired his wife to work with him in giving back to society, which is why she moved on to establish the movement. Second, the subsequent movement to England Exposed Juliette to a world that practiced and believed in different values than her hometown did. While in England, for example, Low learned the fact that she could form an extensive movement of guides, first in the UK—she did it in Scotland and England—then in the United States. Therefore, the meeting was substantial in her development both as a leader and as a pioneering Girl Guide.
Juliette’s dream could have easily died with the death of her husband in 1905, but she was resilient enough to push with the realization of her dream. One expects that Low would have suffered an emotional setback when her husband died and forced her to move back to her hometown in Georgia, but as her biography tells, she was determined to defeat all the challenge that befell her. In fact, she used the death as a motivation because she sought to push on the legacy of her husband, which she used to create more troops around America. Her efforts won her national recognition, and she was honored on several occasions (Corey, 2016). The movement of the headquarters of her movement from Washington DC to New York marked one of the greatest milestones in her quest to make Girl Guides a national and global movement because it placed her on the map for more funding.
Low engaged in a rapid promotional program for the project, moving from state to state seeking for support of any type that would help the new Girl Guides in settling into the troops. She knew that she would not manage all the tasks on her own, which is why she assembled a team that would help with the administrative tasks. The primary challenge that she had been facing, she realized, was to spread the gospel of the new project to as many interested parties as possible. She primary targeted schools, and received positive responses everywhere she went, especially because most people wanted to associate with her enduring legacy having learned from her husband’s work about the type of project that she was trying to set up (Cordery, 2013). In fact, most people liked the fact that Low was practicing her passion for community service because she taught different skills to each of the girls, including knitting.
Conclusion
Juliette Low founded the Girl Guides Movement, which is now recognized around the world. The groundwork for the movement was challenging, yet exciting. From the positive side, it has been discussed that Low received proper education from America at a time when the Civil War threatened to jeopardize her education where it not for the input of her able parents and family. She relied on the leadership skills that she developed through her interactions with people from diverse backgrounds to establish troops in her hometown and other places. The most important influence on Low was her marriage to William Low who had founded the Scouts movement in England. Juliette drew inspiration from her husband, and together, they tried the idea of Girl Guides where Low established troops in Scotland and England. Her determination enabled her to surmount the hearing impairment that she suffered from in her life and the death of her husband to become the pioneer of a movement, which gained significant ground and recognition in the country. Importantly, Juliette Gordon Low marketed her movement rapidly across the country, which attracted funding for the establishment of troops in each state. Today, the Girl Guides is a worldwide movement, which speaks about the legacy that Low set.
References
Cordery, S. A. (2013). Juliette Gordon Low: The remarkable founder of the Girl Scouts . New York: Penguin Books.
Corey, S. (2016). Here Come the Girl Scouts! The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette" Daisy" Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure . Scholastic Inc..
Kudlinski, K. V. (2015). Juliette gordon low: America's first girl scout . Turtleback Books.
Wadsworth, G., & Clarion Books (New York, N.Y.),. (2012). First Girl Scout: The life of Juliette Gordon Low . Boston: Clarion Books.
