Arthur A. Schuck
Encyclopedia
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
(BSA) who served as the Chief Scout Executive
Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....
for twelve years from 1948 to 1960.
Early career
Schuck was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
in 1895 and became a volunteer Scoutmaster at age 18 in 1913, while working in a Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
factory. He started his professional work with the BSA in 1917, serving Pennsylvania councils in Lancaster
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
Lancaster County, known as the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county located in the southeastern part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of 2010 the population was 519,445. Lancaster County forms the Lancaster Metropolitan Statistical Area, the...
and Reading
Greater Reading Area
The Greater Reading Area generally refers to the whole of Berks County and southern Schuylkill County....
. He founded the Chester County Council
Chester County Council
The Chester County Council is a Boy Scouts of America service council that serves members of the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Venturing programs in Chester County, Pennsylvania and Northeastern Cecil County, Maryland...
of the Boy Scouts of America in 1919. He was then promoted to region executive of four Mid-Atlantic states, from 1919-21. When Schuck became a Professional Scouter, he sought to teach boys "to live in friendship without regard for race, creed or color", said the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
forty years later in its coverage of the 1957 national Scout jamboree
National Scout jamboree (Boy Scouts of America)
The national Scout jamboree is a gathering, or jamboree of thousands of members of the Boy Scouts of America, usually held every four years and organized by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Referred to as "the Jamboree", "Jambo", or NSJ, Scouts from all over the nation and world...
in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
The Village of Valley Forge is an unincorporated settlement located on the west side of Valley Forge National Historical Park at the confluence of Valley Creek and the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania, United States. The remaining village is in Schuylkill Township of Chester County, but once...
.
National service
In 1922, Schuck joined the BSA's national office, working in finance and organization. In 1931, he was named director of the division of operations, which he headed until 1943. As director, he was in charge of the first national Scout jamboree in the U.S., held in Washington, D.C., in 1937. He would later become deputy Chief Scout Executive under James E. WestJames E. West (Scouting)
Dr. James E. West was a lawyer and an advocate of children's rights, who became the first professional Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1911–1943. Upon his retirement from the BSA, West was given the title of Chief Scout.-Personal life:His father died around the...
, and some thought he would become the next Chief Scout Executive when West retired in 1944. Instead he was passed over for volunteer Elbert K. Fretwell
Elbert K. Fretwell
Professor Elbert K. Fretwell, PhD,[1878-1962) was an American academic and early leader in the field of youth development through recreation and extracurricular activity. He served as the second Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America , serving from 1943 to 1948. Upon his retirement...
and Schuck then served as the Scout executive for the Los Angeles Area Council
Los Angeles Area Council
Founded in 1915, the Los Angeles Area Council serves most of the City of Los Angeles as well as several other cities in the greater Los Angeles area. It is one of five Boy Scouts of America councils in Los Angeles County, California. Since its founding in 1915, the Los Angeles Area Council has...
for four years until becoming the third Chief Scout Executive
Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of executive director....
of the BSA on September 1, 1948. As Chief Scout Executive, Schuck said the principal purpose of the BSA is: "To give to America a new generation of men of character, with ingrained qualities that make for good citizenship".
Honors
Schuck was awarded the Silver Buffalo AwardSilver Buffalo Award
The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting program...
and was also honored by several scout associations in other countries. The World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the Non-governmental international organization which governs most national Scout Organizations, with 31 million members. WOSM was established in 1920, and has its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland...
conferred the Bronze Wolf Award upon Schuck in 1960, for exceptional services to world Scouting. The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge is a national, non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The Foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, U.S., and sits on ground that was once part of...
presented Schuck with its highest honor, the George Washington Honor Medal, in 1952 for the BSA's support of a "Get Out the Vote" campaign.
Death
Schuck died in a Santa Barbara, CaliforniaSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, hospital in 1963, at age 67. He was survived by his wife, Olive, and a son and daughter.