15 July 2008
FDR’s Mysterious Boy Scout Fundraiser
Posted by admin under: Community Partners; history .
PBS has a show called “History Detectives” that allows viewers to share objects and information that the show further investigates. One of their viewers wanted to understand the history and meaning behind the “Society Circus Program” in 1933 that looked like a fancy fundraiser for the Boy Scouts of America with many celebrities in attendance and endorsed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The show has aired, but it has repeats and there is a page on which you can put in your zip code to find when the episode (Season 6, Episode 3) will be shown in your area. The page also links to a transcript of the show. The blurb on the episode enigmatically states that there was “a connection between the Boy Scouts of America and FDR that inspired one of the most popular and effective pieces of the President’s New Deal program”.
The transcript didn’t reveal what that connection was other than possibly a social responsibility for fellow citizens and making your own entertainment. The show also doesn’t answer the question it raised about whether the money was raised and spent to keep Boy Scout camps open.
“History Detectives” does state that FDR was very strongly in favor of the Boy Scouts of America and his endorsement probably cemented the strong ties between government and the BSA. It’s a nice bit of nostalgia to recall a radical Democrat building up and supporting the Boy Scouts of America.
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