Juliette Gordon Low
Created the dedicated, dutiful and diverse Girl Scouts
Always conflicted about her status as a “woman of ease,” Juliette Gordon Low looked for a call to service and found it in scouting. From the beginning, membership included girls from different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds, as well as girls with disabilities. (Low herself was severely hearing impaired for much of her life.) Today there are more than 2.5 million Girl Scouts in the U.S. and in nearly 90 other countries. More than 50 million women have participated in Juliette Gordon Low’s organization.
Juliette Gordon Low
Object Details
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- 20th Century Americans: 1900-1930 (re-installation 2012)
- On View
- NPG, South Gallery 322
- Date
- 1887
- Object number
- NPG.73.5
- Exhibition Label
- Born Savannah, Georgia
- Elegantly depicted by British artist Edward Hughes, Juliette Gordon Low radiates the luxury of elite American birth and marriage to a wealthy Englishman. Low’s satisfaction with her privileged lifestyle, however, soon faded. Following her unfaithful husband’s death, she became interested in the Girl Guides, an organization established by her friend, British general Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who had also founded the Boy Scouts. Working with disadvantaged girls living near her Scottish estate, Low became a troop leader, imparting practical skills to her charges. After creating troops in London, Low brought the idea to the United States, establishing a troop in 1912 in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia. Three years later, Low incorporated the Girl Scouts of America. Today the organization continues to inspire girls to pursue “the highest ideals of character, conduct, patriotism, and service that they may become happy and resourceful citizens.”
- Provenance
- The sitter; remained at Juliette Low home in Savannah, later owned by the Girl Scouts of America; gift 1973 to NPG
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America; frame conserved with funds from the Smithsonian Women's Committee
- Artist
- Edward Hughes, 1832 - 1908
- Sitter
- Juliette Gordon Low, 31 Oct 1860 - 17 Jan 1927
- Topic
- Exterior\Landscape\Rural
- Costume\Jewelry\Bracelet
- Costume\Dress Accessory\Fan
- Juliette Gordon Low: Female
- Juliette Gordon Low: Society and Social Change\Founder
- Juliette Gordon Low: Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Portrait
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Stretcher: 133.4 x 96.5 x 2.5cm (52 1/2 x 38 x 1")
- Frame: 167 x 130.8 x 10.2cm (65 3/4 x 51 1/2 x 4")
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.73.5
Juliette Gordon Low
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