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Ellsworth Hunt "Gus" Augustus (November 23, 1897 – May 16, 1964) was an American businessman from Cleveland, Ohio who served as the tenth National president of the Boy Scouts of America. He lived in Waite Hill, Ohio with his wife, Elizabeth Good "Betty" Augustus until his death in May 1964.


Biography

He was born on November 23, 1897 in Cleveland, Ohio. Ellsworth, an avid amateur golfer, once beat
Bobby Jones Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a const ...
at a charity golf event. He was characterized in a 1920 issue of '' Vanity Fair'' magazine as being the country's most powerful driver off the tee, demonstrating his golf swing in a series of time lapse photos. Augustus and his wife had four children, Daneen, Albert Anthony Augustus II, Elizabeth (Betsy), and Margaret (Peggy). He served for four years during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
on active duty as an officer in the
United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Se ...
aboard the troop ship, USS ''West Point'', which was converted from the ocean liner ''America''. In 1950 he was appointed as the Cuyahoga County coordinator of
Civil Defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mit ...
at the request of Cleveland Mayor
Thomas A. Burke Thomas Aloysius Burke (October 30, 1898December 5, 1971) was an American Democratic Party politician from Ohio. He served as the 48th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1946 to 1953 and in the United States Senate from November 10, 1953 until Decembe ...
and the county commissioners. Although Augustus and his staff had little experience with civil defense and limited guidance from the federal government, the civil defense organization soon developed organizational plans for a county-wide program that called for "tens of thousands of volunteers" to be "the county's defense troops." Augustus hoped to train one member from each family in Cuyahoga County, or 375,000 people, in
first aid First aid is the first and immediate assistance given to any person with either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery. It includes initial in ...
. Further volunteer opportunities included 30,000 to 40,000 air raid war- dens, 5,000 police auxiliary officers, and 3,000 auxiliary firemen. Local schools also participated in the civil defense program. In February 1951, Cleveland school officials sent a letter to all parents describing the civil defense efforts in schools. Some schools taught their students how to protect themselves by ducking under their desks and covering their heads — the well-known "Duck and Cover" technique.


Scouting

Augustus began his Scouting service in 1940 and served as vice president (1941–46) and president (1947–53) of the
Greater Cleveland Council Scouting in Ohio has a long history, from the 1908 to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live. Early history (1910–1950) Recent history (1950–1990) In 1952 and again in 1975 th ...
. He joined the National Executive Board in 1950 serving as chairman of Region 4 from 1956 to 1959. He received the Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope awards in 1951 and the
Silver 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 pro ...
in 1954. He was elected president of the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth partici ...
in 1959 and served for five years until 1964. His service to the Scout movement included participating in the
11th World Scout Jamboree The 11th World Scout Jamboree was held 1–11 August 1963 in Marathon, Greece. Jamboree activities The Jamboree Camp had 11 sub-camps for the participating Scouts and 5 sub-camps for administrative and technical personnel, and covered a total are ...
at
Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, ''Marathónas''; Attic/Katharevousa: , ''Marathṓn'') is a town in Greece and the site of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Leg ...
, and 19th World Conference on the Isle of Rhodes. During 1964, he made an official visit to the
Far East Council There have been American Scouts overseas since almost the inception of the movement, often for similar reasons as the present day. Within the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), these expatriate Scouts are now served by two overseas Councils and the Dire ...
of the Boy Scouts of America with headquarters in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, Japan, and conferred with leaders of Scout associations in
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
,
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...
, and Japan, where he received the highest distinction of the
Scout Association of Japan , headquarters = Hongō, Bunkyō, Tokyo , country = Japan , f-date = 1922 , members = 109,528 (2017) , website = http://www.scout.or.jp , affiliation = World Organization of the Scout Movement , pattern_head1 = baseball cap , color_hea ...
, the Golden Pheasant Award.


Legacy

He was an honorary brother of
Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25,00 ...
. In 1967 the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth partici ...
opened the Ellsworth H. Augustus International Scout House on the grounds of the former national office in
North Brunswick, New Jersey North Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is centrally located in the Raritan Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. At the 2020 United States census, the population was 43,905, reflecting ...
until closing in 1979 with the move of the office to
Irving, Texas Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bur ...
. Sub camp 20 at the
2001 National Scout Jamboree 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", "Ja ...
was named in his honor.


See also


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Augustus, Ellsworth H. Businesspeople from Cleveland 1964 deaths 1897 births Presidents of the Boy Scouts of America 20th-century American businesspeople