Speech #990080852

A New York City study done at that time in. dicated that 93 percent of the students in local public schools were "anemic and in need of open air treatment." The lure of hills and the woods. and the lore of generations of woods men and naturalists. conspired to win the hearts and minds of boysand of the men who helped themwho felt themselves to be. in the famous phrase of the poet Keats. too "long in city pent." To one who has been long in city pent. Tis very sweet to look into the fair And open face of heaven. Something of that spirit. that feeling for the wildness of nature and its challenge to a boys will. has always been present in Scouting. But also the early decades of this century were a time of heavy Immigration from the Old World. Newcomers were often confused and perplexed by the conditions of American life. The growing diversity of ethnic. cultural. and religious backgrounds underlined the need for binding values. ways by which people of different traditions could be brought together.