The bio for Ralphson says;
And then proceeds to talk about William D. Boyce and the Boy Scouts of America.G. Harvey Ralphson (1879-1940), American Boy Scouts Master and author of the Boy Scouts series, including Boy Scouts in Mexico, or On Guard with Uncle Sam (1911);
The American Boy Scouts were a very different, and competing organization, than the Boy Scouts of America. ABS was founded by William Randolph Hearst, (who dropped out very quickly, over disgust with their fund raising methods).
The primary point of contention between the two organizations was over military training. The ABS saw itself as training future soldiers - military drill and weapons training was a large part of their program. The BSA saw itself as entirely non-military.
I've found almost no biographical information on Ralphson, aside from this site. And none that seemed to be aware of the rivalry between the two competing visions of Scouting.
One thing - I'm currently reading "The Boy Scouts in Mexico", and the scout emblem described - an Indian arrowhead with a "be prepared" scroll is not, and has never been, the logo of the BSA.
Reply With Quote