CATHOLIC BOY SCOUTS

In the process of research.cutive Walter Gunn, along with strong support from several Catholic leaders in the ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBUQUE, keyed the rapid growth of the Boy Scout movement in Dubuque. By the end of 1917, the Dubuque Council consisted of 118 registered Boy Scouts from seven troops. The number of Scouts registered would increase to 301 from sixteen troops by the end of 1918. By the end of 1919, there would be 356 Scouts registered with the Council and two troops that chartered directly with the national office. (1)

The history entitled Boy Scouts of America A Centennial Edition stated that the Catholic Church allowed Catholic boys to join the Scouts if there were Catholic troops under a Catholic Scoutmaster and that there would be a chaplain appointed by the proper ecclesiastical authority for each Catholic troop. Many of the early troops were chartered to Catholic parishes. Local Catholic leadership became influential on the national level. Of the three original recipients of the Silver Beaver award from the Dubuque Council, one chaired the Catholic Committee on Scouting and another was an influential Catholic priest. A letter of endorsement for Scouting was obtained from the Vatican in 1919 and the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS made Scouting its official program for boys aged 12-15.

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Sources:

1. Lewis, Paul W. Scouting in Northeast Iowa 1910-1959, Dubuque, IA, S4 Carlisle Publishing Services, 2017, p. 21