Cradle of Liberty Council
The Cradle of Liberty Council is a Boy Scouts of America council created in 1996 with the merger of the former Philadelphia Area Council, covering the city and county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the former Valley Forge Council, covering both Delaware County, Pennsylvania and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is the largest council in Pennsylvania and one of the ten largest in the entire Boy Scouts of America.
History
The council, a formation of a merger back in 1996, originally consisted of three councils: Philadelphia Area, Delaware County, and Montgomery County. In 1913, the Philadelphia council opened the Treasure Island Scout Reservation near Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania, and just two years later, Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carrol Edson formed the Order of the Arrow and inducted its first members on July 16, 1915.
The Delaware and Montgomery councils have spotty histories, but both came together in a BSA-directed merger in the 1950s to form the Valley Forge Council, named after the historic winter camp of 1776-77 by George Washington's troops. It opened its first camp, the Delmont Scout Reservation in nearby Green Lane, Pennsylvania, and acquired land to open the Resica Falls Scout Reservation near the Delaware Water Gap in 1962.
Because of a shift of populations (city residents moving to the suburbs), and two councils trying to gain capital funds for their camps, the BSA suggested to the council executive boards of both councils to merge together, a process started in 1993 and made final in 1996. Because of rumors that the Philadelphia's OA lodge, called "Unami One," would be lost in the merger, the members of Valley Forge's OA lodge, Delmont Lodge 43, simply folded their lodge and became part of the Unami Lodge in 1997.
Scout Camps
Cradle of Liberty Council operates three scout camps - the Treasure Island Scout Reservation, the Musser Scout Reservation (from the merger of the Camp Delmont and Camp Hart) near Green Lane, and the Resica Falls Scout Reservation, composed of Camp Firestone and Camp Big Springs, north of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in the Poconos Mountains. The twin camps of Hart and Delmont were operated by the Philadelphia and Valley Forge councils respectively before the merger. Their consolidation under the name Musser Scout Reservation was a tribute to Pete Musser and the Musser family, long-time Scouting supporters.
Treasure Island was damaged by floods from the Delaware River in 2005, forcing Cradle of Liberty officials to close the camp for the 2005 season. Resica Falls is situated near the controversial Tocks Island Dam project of the 1960s, now the present-day Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area.
Order of the Arrow Lodge
The Cradle of Liberty's Order of the Arrow Lodge, Unami Lodge One, is the oldest OA lodge in the country, and in 1995 celebrated its 90th anniversary. The current membership consists of members from the pre-1997 merger of the Philadelphia and Valley Forge Councils, along with new members who joined after 1997. Delmont Lodge 43, the Valley Forge lodge, simply folded as to preserve the histories and traditions of Unami One, but its Vigil Honor members, Founders' Award recipients, and other honored members are preserved from the records of both lodges.
Philadelphia Council also had several other OA lodges in the early days of the OA (an early bylaw allowed each Scout camp within a "first class council" to have an OA lodge in each scout camp), but folded and become part of Unami Lodge after bylaw changes and camp closures. The only exception to the "one council, one lodge" rule is the five OA lodges in the Greater New York Councils in New York City, in which each of the five boroughs are treated as a "council within a council."
Offices
As a result of the merger, the Cradle of Liberty Council maintains two offices, the Bruce S. Marks Scout Resource Center in Philadelphia, the other, the Roger S. Firestone Scout Resource Center, in Wayne, just outside of Valley Forge just over the Chester County line.
The Marks Scout Resource Center in Philadelphia was built in 1929. The beaux arts style building was designed by architect Charles Klauder. It is located at the corner of 22nd and Winter Streets.[1]
The first copy of the R. Tait McKenzie sculpture, The Ideal Scout sits outside the building at 22nd and Winter Streets in Philadelphia.
Controversies
In 2003, the City of Philadelphia, under the leadership of Mayor John F. Street, filed a suit against the council when the council, threatened by the National BSA office in Texas with cease and desist order (in essence, the dissolving of the council) due to the council's policy in the tolerance of homosexuals in the BSA.
Because of the BSA's policy in barring homosexuals from its membership, the council adopted a policy to allow all those, regardless of sexual orientation, color, race, and religion, to join the program, mainly to regain funds from the local United Way, but was forced to rescind the policy at the annual BSA meeting that was held in the city. The Democrat-controlled city, which owns the Philadelphia building, and has bylaws written in its city charter prohibiting the discrimination of all individuals, was furious at this decision.
Because of the decision, the city wanted the council to vacate the office at 23rd and Winter Streets (next to the Franklin Institute science museum), but drew fire by both Scouting officials and city residents, who saw Scouting as an alternatives to the "mean streets" of the depressed areas of the city. Since then, the city has reversed its decision, as the possibility of a sweeping election by Street's reelection opponent, Sam Katz, a Republican, would have favored both the BSA and the administration of President George W. Bush.
No problems had yet occurred between local officials and the council over the suburban (former Valley Forge) office. In fact, most of the council's activities and training sessions occur in the suburban office, due to its size and flooring area, and it has been slated for expansion since the merger. The city office, which houses the Scout executive and district executives for the districts within the city limits, has less space for training, and has been maintained mainly for easier access to city residents, who would otherwise have to use either mass transit (which has limited stops in Valley Forge), or drive on the Schuylkill Expressway (Interstate 76), which is notorious for backups between Center City and Valley Forge.
Famous alumni
See also
External links
Notes
- ^ philadelphiabuildings.org
- ^ DaGroomes, Kathy Vilim (Mar - Apr 2006). "Dodgers Icon Shares Love Of Baseball and Scouting". Scouting Magazine, p. 36. www.scoutingmagazine.org