Anne Hyde Clarke Choate (October 27, 1886 – May 17, 1967) was an early and prominent leader in the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

and in the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

(WAGGGS).

Biography

Born Anne Hyde Clarke in New York, her godmother was

Juliette Gordon Low Juliette Gordon Low ( Gordon; October 31, 1860 – January 17, 1927) was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scout Movement, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, fo ...

, later to be founder of the Girl Scouts in the United States. At Low's invitation she visited England, during which trip she met her future husband Arthur Choate, nephew of

Joseph Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He was chairman of the American delegation at the Second Hague Conference, and ambassador to the United Kingdom. Choate was associated with many of t ...

, the U.S. Ambassador to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. They married in 1907 and lived in

Pleasantville, New York Pleasantville is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located 30 miles north of Manhattan. The village population was 7,513 at the 2020 census. Pleasantville is home to the secondary c ...

. They had five children. He died in 1962. In 1915, at the request of Juliette Low, she started working with the new troop in Pleasantville. In 1916 she became a national vice president for the Girl Scouts, and in 1920 she became the second president, succeeding Juliette Low. After she finished her term in 1922, she turned to international Scouting, though she remained a vice-president until 1937 and an ex officio member of the board until her death. She chaired the Juliette Low World Friendship Committee from 1927 when it was founded after the death of Juliette Low to 1955 and was closely involved in

Our Chalet Our Chalet is an international Girl Guide/Girl Scout centre and one of five World Centre (WAGGGS), World Centres of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). The others are Our Cabaña, Sangam World Girl Guide/Girl Scout Cent ...

including becoming chairman. She attended her last international conference in Tokyo in 1966 and died the following year at the age of 80 in her home in New York. Very active even in her old age, she was horseback riding almost daily until breaking her clavicle in a riding accident about four months before her death. She was also interested in historic preservation which she combined with Scouting when she successfully worked to preserve Juliette Low's birthplace in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

Quotes

"Scouting is more than just play, it builds health, a sense of social responsibility, democracy, character, through the teachings of generosity, initiative, reliability, loyalty, self-control, cheerfulness, obedience, usefulness and thrift."

References

Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 8: 1966-1970. American Council of Learned Societies, 1988.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Choate, Anne Hyde International Scouting leaders Girl Scouts of the USA national leaders 1886 births 1967 deaths People from Pleasantville, New York Recipients of the Silver Fish Award