Scouts in Formation on Pier (c. 1911)

This lantern slide, “Scouts in Formation on Pier (c. 1911),” shows a group of boy scouts standing in formation on a dock. Behind them is a ship and further down the pier is a group of men. The scouts are supposedly on a trip to Holland via the Port of Hull in England. This item is a part of Springfield College’s series of lantern slides depicting a Boy Scout trip to Holland. Edgar M. Robinson (Springfield College class of 1901) involved the International Y.M.C.A. Training School (now known as Springfield College) with the fledgling Boy Scout movement in the United States around 1910.According to older catalog records, one of the scoutmasters is James Archibald Kyle. Kyle worked as Organizing Secretary of the southwest London District until 1909, when Baden-Powell appointed him the second Secretary of the Official Boy Scouts Office. In this position, he organized the headquarters and developed the Equipment Department. For his work with the Association, Kyle was given the honorary title of Chief Scoutmaster. He also wrote “Band and Music for Boy Scouts,” “Firedrill for Boy Scouts,” and “Training Camps and Standing Camps for Boyscouts.” The Boy Scouts started around 1908, when Robert Baden-Powell, a Lieutenant-General in the English military, wrote a book entitled “Scouting for Boys.