Portal:Philadelphia/Selected biography/December 2007

Edward Urner Goodman

E. Urner Goodman was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) movement for much of the twentieth century. He was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organization's formative years of significant growth when the Cub Scouting and Exploring programs were established. He developed the BSA's national training center in the early 1930s and was responsible for publication of the widely-read Boy Scout Handbook and other Scouting books, writing the Leaders Handbook used by Scout leaders in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. He is best remembered today for having created the Order of the Arrow or "OA", a popular and highly successful program of the Boy Scouts of America which continues to honor Scouts for their cheerful service. Since its founding in 1915, the Order of the Arrow has grown to become a nationwide program having thousands of members, which recognizes those Scouts who best exemplify the virtues of cheerful service, camping, and leadership by membership in Scouting's honor society.