Each year on October 31st, Girl Scouts all over the United States celebrate Founder’s Day. The date was decided on to commemorate the birthday of Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low. Ms. Low, who blazed a trail for many girls to follow and lived a life of boldness, self-assurance, and integrity, would not take “No” for an answer when dealing with negativity in her never-ending pursuit to make Girl Scouts of the USA a success.
Juliette Gordon Low, also referred to as “Daisy,” founded Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912, during a period when women in the US didn’t yet have the right to vote. Juliette expanded her first troop of 18 girls into a global organization with nearly 3 million members in 92 countries and over 59 million alumnae. She pictured the Scouts from the start as a movement wherein girls could band together, collaborate, share their unique strengths, and also realize their dreams. Eventually, as many Girl Scouts have done since, she realized her noble vision and left a lasting mark on the entire world.
Total Loss Of Hearing Developed Slowly
Juliette was born with the ability to hear but began to lose her hearing at age seventeen. She suffered severe loss of hearing by the time she reached her mid-twenties and had frequent ailments including brain fever, earaches, and malaria. When she was 24 years old she contracted a serious infection in her right ear. Antibiotics were not known during those times but Juliette persuaded her doctor to try using the new treatment silver nitrate. The doctor then used silver nitrate to deal with the infection and ended up causing more harm, thus Juliette lost some of her hearing in that ear.
Later, she became permanently deaf in the left ear after a grain of rice got lodged in her ear during her wedding on December 21, 1886.
Check out the video below to find out more about Juliette Gordon Low as well as her legacy.