Summer Camps and US Empire
Imagine the excitement of the more than two hundred adolescent boys, each about to enter the biggest stage of their lives. Selected to represent the Boy Scouts of America abroad, they had crossed the Atlantic in July 1929 to participate in the largest summer camp held at the time: the World Scout Jamboree at Birkenhead, England. Dressed up as native warriors, Spanish conquistadors, gold rush adventurers, and hardy cowboys, the youngsters walked out into a roar of recognition, egged on by the cheers of an estimated twenty thousand spectators, among them diplomats, statesmen, and a flurry of foreign correspondents. The US Scouts’ pageant was the high point of the jamboree ceremonies. As their carnival of cultures narrated America’s rise from humble beginnings to modern greatness, the Scouts mingled joyfully in the grand arena, performing tribal dances, lasso tricks, and feats of horsemanship in an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. The […]