Around this time, William Randolph Hearst, a rival newspaperman, formed the American Boy Scouts (ABS), a group that lasted through 1918.

Published from July 1910 to March 1911, it covered the Scouting organization and camping skills but did not talk of first aid, knife and axe safe use or how to use a compass and map.

The Scout Law in this original source included that boys needed to be loyal to "his employers" and this was repeated in some early editions of the BSA material.

This loyalty was removed from the 1911 edition, but it took several years for some labor organizations to allow their members' sons to join Boy Scouts of America.

Some troops in the South threatened to leave BSA and burn their uniforms if African American Scouts were permitted, but West was key in overcoming those obstacles.

He refused to allow the BSA Supply group to sell the Remington rifle endorsed by the ABS and de-emphasized the Marksmanship merit badge.

By 1915, the conflicts between had escalated and in an attempt to defuse the situation, West began promoting the story of the Unknown Scout that emphasized Boyce as the founder of the BSA.

West had earlier worked with Luther Gulick when the Camp Fire Girls were established and always considered them to be the sister program of the BSA.

The Philadelphia Area Council started a Summer Camp fraternity called the Order of the Arrow in 1915 that eventually became the Honor Society of the Boy Scout of America.

[17] Paul Sleman, Colin H. Livingstone, Ernest S. Martin and James E. West successfully lobbied Congress for a congressional charter[18] for the BSA–partly as a way to deal with competition from the Lone Scouts of America,[4]: 111  which President Woodrow Wilson signed on June 15, 1916.

One of Representative Gard's accomplishments was writing, introducing and securing the passage of H.R.755 which incorporated the Boy Scouts of America and created their national charter.

They collected fruit pits to be processed into charcoal for gas masks and inventoried black walnut trees for use as propellers and gun stocks.

As part of the world movement, the BSA adopted the left handshake and a new uniform: the high collar jacket was replaced by a shirt and neckerchief and shorts were added as an option.

James J. Storrow replaced Colin Livingstone as president in 1925 and William Hillcourt, later known as "Green Bar Bill" began his association with the BSA.

The following year, silent film star Fred Thomson provided a demonstration of the kit by bandaging the leg of his horse Silver King.

Later on the kit was upgraded to a tin box with additional burn and antibiotic creams, first aid instructions and several kinds of bandages (including Brand-Aids).

In 1937, oil magnate Waite Phillips donated to the BSA a large tract of land in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico that became the Philmont Scout Ranch.

[citation needed] Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 110,000 people of Japanese origins were forced to leave their homes and were segregated in 10 detention camps in seven States: two in California, Arizona, and Arkansas and one in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

[32] On December 6, 1942, on the eve of the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, tensions were high between pro-Americans and pro-Japanese internees in the Manzanar Camp with a thousand protesters present.

[40] The 1960s saw the peak periods of membership for the BSA in almost every category, as the Baby Boomer generation had its Scout-age boys joining packs and troops across the country.

[53] The BSA lured William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt out of retirement in 1979 and he spent an entire year writing the 9th Edition of the Boy Scout Handbook.

The program was launched with "Brownsea Double-Two", a week-long course for the senior patrol leader who would then introduce the troop-level "Operation Flying Start" to their units.

It was published with the intent "to eventually replace Troop Leader Development (#6544) and also provide the Scoutcraft skills experiences of Brownsea Double Two.

In early 2005, confusion has been raised over whether the BSA quietly stopped allowing Venture Patrols to use the Venture/Varsity Letter and activity pins, restricting them to just Varsity Scouts.

In Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, the Court ruled that BSA could bar homosexuals from being troop leaders because as a private organization, it has the First Amendment Right to associate with anyone.

The BSA program utilizes the framework offered by WOSM to encourage all youth (including cub scouts) and adult leaders.

This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families.

We strive to bring what our organization does best – developing character and leadership for young people – to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.

This was due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic but also to children being interested in other activities such as sports leagues, busy life schedule and the perception that BSA is "old fashioned".

While remaining relatively small compared to Venturing and Exploring, the program has persisted, probably due to LDS' policy to charter Varsity Teams for all 14- to 15-year-old boys in the United States.