Amy Erdman Farrell, "Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girl Scouts of the USA" (UNC Press, 2025)

Dec 18, 2025

In this engaging conversation, historian Amy Erdman Farrell delves into the rich yet complicated history of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Drawing on her childhood experiences, she reveals how the organization influenced the lives of over 50 million girls. Topics include the intersections of race and feminism, the impact of segregation policies, and the role of Girl Scouts in Native American boarding schools. With a balance of personal reflections and extensive research, Farrell emphasizes the need to confront the organization’s discriminatory past while celebrating its legacy.

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ANECDOTE

Personal Origin Story

Amy Erdman Farrell grew up as a Girl Scout in 1970s Ohio and credits the organization with changing her life after bullying.
She used her personal experience as a lens to investigate the larger, complicated history of the Girl Scouts.

INSIGHT

Founding Myth vs. Reality

The popular founding myth centers on Juliette Gordon Lowe but obscures many other girl groups and leaders.
Girl Scouting in the U.S. was shaped by elite networks and imperial attitudes as much as by a single founder.

INSIGHT

The 'Intrepid' Girl Defined

'Intrepid' framed acceptable girlhood: daring but constrained and generally coded as white.
The organization promoted expanded girl activities while avoiding systemic challenges like full feminism or racial inclusivity.

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When eight-year-old Amy Erdman Farrell moved with her family to Akron, Ohio, in 1972, she found herself adrift in a sea of taunting boys and mean girls. Shy by nature, she dreaded her long, unhappy days at school. But a few years later, Farrell found an escape from bullying, the promise of sisterhood, a rising sense of confidence, adventure, and—best of all—lifelong friendship when she joined a Girl Scout troop. Decades later, award-winning author Dr. Farrell returns to those formative experiences to explore the complicated and surprising history of the Girl Scouts of the USA.
Drawing from extensive archival research, visits to iconic Girl Scout sites around the world, and vivid personal reflections, in Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girl Scouts of the USA (University of North Carolina Press, 2025) Dr. Farrell uncovers the Girl Scouts intricate history, revealing how the organization has shaped the lives of more than 50 million girls and women since its founding in 1912. With Dr. Farrell as our own intrepid guide, we travel to American Indian boarding schools, Japanese American incarceration centers, segregated African American communities, middle-class white neighborhoods, and outposts throughout the globe. Intrepid Girls unpacks how the Girl Scouts navigated tensions over feminism, race, class, and political differences, carving out extraordinary opportunities for girls and women—even as it participated in the very discrimination it promised to transcend.
For anyone who has ever worn a uniform or wondered about the hidden history behind this iconic American institution, Intrepid Girls will surprise, inspire, and challenge what we think we know about the Girl Scouts.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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