Juliette Gordon Low, a Hero to All People

by Jodi J
(Parsons, KS, USA)

Ms. Low (center) with two Girl Scouts

Perhaps no greater tribute can be said than she is not remembered as a “deaf person who” but rather as an outgoing and exciting example of what all people should strive for and that is to be a person of conviction. Ms. Low is known as the founder of the Girl Scout movement that lives on even today. Upon learning all that she endured through her life, it is all the more amazing that she was remembered at all.

Born in 1860 Ms. Low had humble beginnings including being a captive of native Americans for many years and being shipped around the country to different relatives and schools during her early life. She lost a great deal of hearing in one ear after an infection was treated with silver nitrate at the age of 25. A year later she would lose hearing completely in the other ear due to an infection from getting a grain of rice thrown at a wedding lodged in her ear. Her life continued on a downward spiral with a childless marriage and resulting divorce. Through it all she kept up her spirits and engaged people throughout America and England.

She would go on to become an artist and activist for several different causes. It was during a meeting with Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts in England that Ms. Low became enamored working with children to help them become leaders. Her first efforts were successful in England so she returned home to America and with her sister began the “Girl Guides” which a year later would be renamed the Girl Scouts. It is a testament to her will and great resolve that she did not let her deafness define her, rather she took it in stride as part of her life and went on to make history.

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Juliette Gordon Low, a Hero to All People

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Jan 28, 2010
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amg
by: Anonymous

juliette you are truly insperational to me you helped me write my essay

Jan 28, 2010
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you rock
by: Anonymous

i think juliette is a great person wothout here there would be no Girl Scouts

Jan 04, 2010
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Thanks
by: Anonymous

Thank you so much for the information It helped me with my final essay questions

Dec 14, 2009
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Facts
by: Michelle Jay - Webmaster

Just for the record, Irish's facts are correct. Irish, thank you for adding these corrections. :)

Dec 14, 2009
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Fact Check?
by: Irish

Juliette Low is a personal hero of mine, so it disappoints me to see such mistakes about her life when it is so easy to find the correct information.

Juliette Low was never held captive by Native Americans, her great grandmother was.

Her divorce was not a result of not having children, but because her husband cheated on her.

It wasn't her sister she founded girl scouts with, but a distant cousin.

She probably didn't feel bad about being "sent away" to different schools and relatives. It was common practice at the time and resulted in her being a very well educated woman, which helped her in her life's work.

Not having children was probably something she was very grateful for later, as it made it possible to leave her husband (the divorce wasn't yet final when he died though) and gave her the freedom she needed to do what she did.

She lived several years with breast cancer, which she later died of, but kept it quiet and continued to devote her time and energy to the Girl Scouts. Juliette Low was an amazing person... and deserves to have her biography relayed correctly.

Nov 04, 2009
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Truly Inspiring!
by: Michelle Jay

Jodi, you are wonderful writer. Thank you so much for your submission! I have Juliette Low on my Famous Deaf People page, but I haven't researched her biography. She really does seem to have had a difficult life, but the legacy she left behind is an amazing part of Deaf History. Your submission is truly inspiring and enlightening. Thank you for sharing! :)