This section is from the book "Handbook For Scoutmasters. Volume 1 & 2", by Boy Scouts of America. Also available from Amazon: Handbook For Scoutmasters.
In 1926, upon the recommendation of the Chief Scout Executive, the Executive Board authorized a thorough study by outside specialists, of the National Organization and the methods of operation procedure and functional responsibilities, in an effort to discover how it might be made to serve the field even more effectively.
This study, conducted by Mark M. Jones, was completed in 1928, and resulted in the adoption by the Executive Board of a Divisional Plan, which took effect on January 1, 1931.
Under this plan, the National Office serves the Scout field through the following four divisions:
Program Division-Chairman Divisional Committee: Dr. John H. Finley; Director: E. Urner Goodman. Editorial, Education, Reading Program, Public Relations, Research and Program Development.
Operations Division-Chairman Divisional Committee: Marshall Field III; Director: A. A. Schuck. Activities, Camping, Engineering, Cubbing, Field Regions, Finance, Health and Safety, Inter-Racial, Rural, Senior Scouting.
Personnel-Chairman Divisional Committee: Col. Theodore Roosevelt; Director: H. F. Pote. Personnel, Registration, Welfare.
Business Division-Chairman Divisional Committee: Walter W. Head; Director: E. W. Beckman. Business Management of BOYS' LIFE, Office Management, Publications, Purchasing, Scout Supplies.
The Coordinating Committee: Dr. James E. West, Messrs. E. U. Goodman, H. F. Pote, A. A. Schuck, E. W. Beckman, and Dr. G. J. Fisher.
With the Chief Scout Executive as the Chairman and the Deputy Scout Executive, Dr. George J. Fisher, as Vice-Chairman, the four Directors constitute the Coordinating Committee, an advisory and coordinating body, that aids in formulating plans and counseling on problems of the Movement.
With his big brother a Scout, the little brother wanted something like it. In England, the younger boys were enrolled as "Wolf Cubs," and in America, several younger boy organizations were appearing. Here was a definite challenge which had to be met in a constructive manner.
The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Foundation, having been interested by the Chief Scout Executive in the younger boy problem, generously made available a fund of $50,000, which enabled us to start the research work in 1928. An Advisory Committee was made up of some of the best known experts in the country on the psychology of boy life and demonstration units were authorized.
During the next three years, close study of these experimental groups was made and literature developed, until, in 1930, Cubbing as the new program was called, was officially launched.
Since then, the new program for boys from 9 to 12 years of age has shown an amazing growth.
In the Laura Spelman Rockefeller grant provision was also made for a study of "what opportunities should be afforded to older boys."
The final result of this study was the adoption by the Boy Scouts of America of the features for older boys described in detail in Part XIV of this Handbook.
At the twenty-first annual meeting of the National Council held in Memphis, Tennessee, in May 1931, Mortimer L. Schiff was elected President of the Boy Scouts of America.
Within a month of his election Scout organizations throughout the world were shocked by his untimely death.
Sohiff had long been interested in a National Training Center. When therefore the idea of establishing a memorial for him came up it was natural that this should take the form of a training center. It was made possible through the generous provision of his mother, Mrs. Jacob Schiff.
THE MORTIMER L. SCHIFF SCOUT RESERVATION An air view of the Manor House of the 480 acre Reservation.
After investigating numerous sites, a special committee recommended a tract of nearly five hundred acres at the edge of Mendham, near Morristown and Bernards ville, New Jersey. This property was purchased and in due time developed into the Mortimer L. Schiff Scout Reservation-indeed a wonderful memorial to a devoted son from his mother.
The dedication of the-Reservation took place on October 18, 1932, in the presence of some six hundred people, including members of the Schiff family.
At the same time, conditions in the world with their manifest perils to youth, called for renewed efforts and more service and caused the Boy Scouts of America to undertake a significant "Ten-Year Program," proposed by George W. Ehler, Assistant to the Chief Scout Executive. It was really a challenge for training youth to meet the need of America for true citizenship.
The aim was-and still is-to feed into the stream of our voting citizenship, a new crop of 21-year-olds each year, in which at least one out of every four new male citizens, would have had at least four years of Scout training. In its broad social meaning, this is one of the most significant tasks ever undertaken by the Movement, and the service goal which today animates our Scouting activities.
The depression did not retard the progress of Scouting. On the contrary more and more boys and men joined the Movement and helped in rendering outstanding service in relief work, setting up on a Nationwide scale a record that has only been exceeded by the work of the Boy Scouts of America during the war period.
The service included cooperation with Government agencies, with special aid given to the Civilian Conservation Camps, and culminated in the National Good Turn, in connection .with Boy Scout Week, 1934, when Scouts in a concerted drive collected great quantities of clothing, household furnishings, foodstuffs, and supplies for the distressed and needy.
The Silver Jubilee of the Boy Scouts of America was celebrated during Boy Scout Week, 1935. The year leading up to it had been one of great accomplishments, during which the total membership for the first time went over the million mark.
National Officers, Boy Scouts of America Top Row: John Sherman Hoyt, Walter W. Head, Stuart W. French
Middle Row: Daniel Carter Beard, Lewis Gawtry Bottom Row: Theodore Roosevelt, Frank G. Hoover, Mell R. Wilkinson
The celebrations were to have culminated in a National Jamboree from August 21 to 30 at the Nation's capital, upon the invitation of the President of the United States. Great preparations had been made in building the camp on the shores of the Potomac River for the expected thirty thousand Scouts.
But it was not to be. Infantile paralysis had appeared in the South, and after serious consideration and consultation, after the camp was 95% completed, on August 8, the President of the United States, acting upon the advice of the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, announced the necessity for the cancellation of the Jamboree.
Immediately after, plans were formulated for making a second attempt at a National Jamboree. The dates were set for it: June 29 to July 9, 1937, and Washington, D. C, was again decided upon for the site.
A tremendous event it was with 27,232 Scouts and Scouters taking part! They came from every one of the forty-eight states within the borders of the United States, her possessions and territories of Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal Zone, and camped for ten days, through rain and sun, with representatives from forty-one foreign lands.
Great events followed each other in rapid succession: the grand opening ceremony, the review before the President of the United States, the convocation, the pilgrimage to the grave of the Unknown Soldier, arena displays, camp fires, and countless friendship get-togethers of Scouts from many states and nations.
The first National Jamboree, the greatest gathering of youth America has ever seen, was a thrilling experience to its thousands of participants. But not only that, it was also a promise of a great future for our Movement and an inspiration to every Scouter to carry on the work for the youth of our country.
 
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