Finding Aid: MS512 - Ernest Thompson Seton Manuscript: History of Woodcraft and its Offshoot, the Boy Scouts (Original Notes)
Description:
This is the finding aid for MS512 - Ernest Thompson Seton Manuscript: History of Woodcraft and its Offshoot, the Boy Scouts (Original Notes) in the Springfield College Archives and Special Collections. This collection comprises a single bound manuscript by Ernest Thompson Seton entitled “History of Woodcraft and its Offshoot, the Boy Scouts (Original Notes).” Although the manuscript as a whole is undated, some of the items within it date from the early 1900s through 1941. The manuscript primarily contains typed sections of Seton’s “History,” which are often annotated with hand-written comments and corrections (presumably by Seton himself). Some sections have been physically cut and pasted together. Seton details his own ideas and reasons for developing the Woodcraft movement, his initial meeting with and instruction of Baden-Powell, scouting in England, etc. On the whole, it appears that Seton was writing and collecting this manuscript in order to re-establish his place as one of the founders—if not the founder—of the Boy Scouts Movement. In addition to Seton’s own text, the manuscript also contains quotes from conversations with and letters from Baden-Powell, James E. West, Elon H. Hooker, H. Morgenthau, Luther H. Gulick, James E. Sullivan, etc. Another section is a transcript of New York County Supreme Court deposition of Baden-Powell from 1917- 1918, in which Baden-Powell answers questions about the development and founding of the Boy Scout Movement. Seton appears to have been using both the quotes and transcript as support for the arguments in his “History.” The final section of the manuscript contains actual correspondence from 1941 between the Setons (who were in Santa Fe, New Mexico), the Robinsons (who were in Springfield, Massachusetts), James E. West (Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America), and Steve M. Jessup (who was involved in the “Western Committee” in California). It can be concluded from this correspondence that the Robinsons, West, and Jessup all discouraged Seton from publishing “ungracious criticism or acts relating to Baden-Powell.” Although Seton did publish and illustrate his autobiography, Trail of an Artist-Naturalist (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons), in 1940, this manuscript—at least as it exists in the collection— was never published. For more information on Ernest Thompson Seton, see: https://springfield.as.atlas-sys.com/agents/people/553
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