Historical Merit Badges help Boy Scouts Celebrate Scouting’s Past

Bill Evans, Youth Development team leader with the BSA, tells Cracker Barrel, a featured column in Scouting Magazine, that these merit badges will count as electives for rank advancement.

On January 13th, 2010, Bill Evans, the Youth Development team leader with the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, has announced that four discontinued merit badges will be brought back as part of the Centennial Celebration of Scouting. Effective January 15, 2010, Scouts will be able to earn the Signaling (1910), Tracking (1911), Pathfinding (1911), and Carpentry (1911) Merit Badges. These merit badges were all introduced in the early years of Scouting in the United States, these merit badges will return to the ?retired list? after December 31, 2010.

Registered Boy Scouts can earn any or all of these merit badges, but there is one exception that has been stressed by the National Council: all merit badge requirements must be completed by December 31st, 2010. Partial merit badges cannot be completed or earned after that date. Any or all of these celebratory merit badges earned will be considered as elective merit badges for rank advancement.

A merit badge called Computers would sound just a crazy to a 1910 Boy Scout as a merit badge called Tracking sounds to Scouts today. That’s because the BSA’s list of available merit badges has evolved through the years as the interests of boys have changed.

In honor of the BSA’s 100th Anniversary, though, today’s generation of Scouts will get the unique opportunity to experience some of the activities their predecessors enjoyed. That’s possible thanks to the BSA’s new Historical Merit Badge Program, a set of four discontinued merit badges that today’s Scouts can earn.

Boys can earn any or all of these merit badges:

Signaling

• First offered in 1910 and discontinued in 1992.
• Sample requirements: build a simple buzzer or blinker capable of sending Morse code messages, and send a message of at least 35 words; send and receive messages using semaphore flags at a rate of at least 30 letters per minute.

Tracking

• First offered in 1911 (as Stalker merit badge) and discontinued in 1952.
• Sample requirements: recognize the tracks of 10 different animals; give evidence to show you have tracked at least two different kinds of birds or animals, documenting their speed and direction.

Pathfinding

• First offered in 1911 and discontinued in 1952.
• Sample requirements: be able to guide people to important places within a three-mile radius of your home; submit a scale map of your community.

Carpentry

• First offered in 1911 and discontinued in 1952.
• Sample requirements: demonstrate the use of tools, such as a miter and bevel; build a simple piece of furniture for use at home.

Sounds like a blast, right? But there’s one catch: Boys must start and finish all requirements within the year 2010. So if your guys built furniture for their patrol kitchen at last year’s summer camp, they can’t use that product for the Carpentry merit badge. And don’t delay—after Dec. 31, 2010, these merit badges will go back on the “retired” list.

If this is a program you want to bring to your troop, the BSA suggests you track down merit badge counselors soon. For Carpentry, contact a local cabinet-making business. A nearby Homeland Security office could help you with Pathfinding. Signaling would benefit from the help of a local amateur ham radio group. And for Tracking, try your state’s department of natural resources. Those are merely suggestions. Be creative!

For more information, look for a special Web site and a printed guide by the end of the month. That’s where you’ll find the complete requirements for each patch. The BSA also plans to deliver a guide that will help councils and districts host a historical camporee or similar event to offer these merit badges.

The Historical Merit Badge Program gives you the perfect chance to organize exciting activities for your Scouts, while connecting them with the BSA’s rich past. It’s another example of the BSA’s devotion to Celebrating the Adventure, Continuing the Journey

Evans has also indicated that these four merit badges, which make up the ?Historical Merit Badge Program will have a full set of merit badge pamphlets, a special website, and other support materials by the end of January.

These merit badges, featured on the far right, utilize the traditional iconic image of the classic merit badge, but to denote their uniqueness of being part of the ?Historic Merit Badge Program,? they will feature a tan border and background.

The National Council recommends that district advancement committees and units work together to seek partnerships with organizations and individuals outside of Scouting to find suitable merit badge counselors to  assist scouts in earning these badges.

For the Signaling Merit Badge, try contacting a local HAM radio club or veteran’s service organization; for the Carpentry Merit Badge, contact a local cabinetry or furniture making business; for the Pathfinding Merit Badge, contact a local law enforcement, Homeland Security office, or a veteran’s service organization; and for the Tracking Merit Badge, contact a local U.S. Forestry Service Office or state Department of Natural Re-sources Office.

The Historical Merit Badge Program gives you the perfect chance to organize exciting activities for your Scouts, while connecting them with the BSA’s rich past. It’s another example of the BSA’s devotion to Celebrating the Adventure, Continuing the Journey.

The merit badges will be available during 2010 only.  Requirements will be available online—no Merit Badge Pamphlets.  When the requirements are posted, they will be available at the following websites:

www.scouting.org/100years and http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards.aspx

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