The Ideal Scout Explained

The Ideal Scout, also known as The Boy Scout, is a work by Canadian[1] sculptor R. Tait McKenzie (1867–1938). The original statue stood in front of the Cradle of Liberty Council at 22nd and Winter Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1937 to 2013.[2] Replicas can be found at Boy Scouts of America councils across the United States, as well as at Gilwell Park in London, England, and at Scouts Canada's national office in Ottawa. The Smithsonian American Art Museum's database lists 18 copies.[3]

History

McKenzie sat on the executive board of the Boy Scouts organization in Philadelphia for more than 20 years. Asked to produce a figure of "an ideal scout," the sculptor chose several young scouts to model in uniform. In 1915, he gave the executive board an 18-inch bronze figure, together with rights to the royalties resulting from sales of copies. He said that the boy's uncovered head denoted reverence, obedience to authority, and discipline. The hatchet held by the scout is a symbol of truthfulness and the hope it would never be unsheathed for wanton destruction, but "applied unceasingly to the neck of treachery, treason, cowardice, discourtesy, dishonesty, and dirt."[4]

McKenzie's life-sized version of the work was unveiled at Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council on June 12, 1937. The Ideal Scout was removed in 2013 after the group vacated the building.

A replica in Ottawa, Illinois, adorns the grave of William D. Boyce (1858–1929), founder of the Boy Scouts of America, who modeled the organization on Great Britain's Boy Scouts Association.

Partial list of locations

Statuette

Statue

See also

External links

39.9591°N -75.1753°W

Notes and References

  1. Book Reviews ("The Sport Sculpture of R. Tait McKenzie") . Ray, Harold L. . Canadian Journal of History of Sport . 1993 . 24-25 . 84. 10.1123/cjhs.24.1.84 .
  2. Web site: Boy Scout, (sculpture). . Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey . 1993 . February 7, 2012.
  3. Web site: Ideal Boy Scout. August 2, 2011. SIRIS.
  4. Buck, Diane M. and Virginia A. Palmer (1995). Outdoor Sculpture in Milwaukee: A Cultural and Historical Guidebook, p. 49. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison
  5. Web site: The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, February 27, 1919, Image 1 .
  6. Web site: The Ideal Scout. waymarking.com. September 7, 2017.
  7. Web site: The Boy Scout (No Longer Here) - Naperville, Illinois - Scouts Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com. waymarking.com. September 7, 2017.
  8. Web site: William James "Billy Jim" Vaughn. Historical Marker DATABASE. 19 June 2024.
  9. Web site: The Boy Scout - South Ogden, Utah - Scouts Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com. waymarking.com. September 7, 2017.
  10. Web site: William D. Boyce Memorial - Ottawa, IL - Scouts Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com. waymarking.com. September 7, 2017.
  11. Web site: The Scout. Flickr. 2 December 2008 . September 7, 2017.
  12. Web site: cyclotram: The Ideal Scout. cyclotram.blogspot.com. 22 September 2009 . September 7, 2017.
  13. Web site: "The Ideal Scout" Statue – Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Scouts Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com. waymarking.com. September 7, 2017.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Ideal Scout".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.