A Boy Scout Rally
by Daniel N. Jabe
Boy Scout rallys were held frequently during the 1910s. At rallys, Boy Scouts would compete against one another for prizes in athletic contests, like foot races, or in contests relating to Boy Scout skils, such as signalling or fire making. Rallies were generally large, and were often a Boy Scout troop's biggest events of the year. The public was usually invited and turned out in large numbers to watch the Boy Scouts exhibit their skills. Below are two newspaper articles about a rally that was held at Harvard Stadium on June 9th, 1917. They are accompanied by a vintage image of the Stadium where the event was held, a ticket from the event, and a silver track medal of the type that most likely would have been awarded. Together they provide an interesting glimpse of one of the most popular of all Boy Scout activities in the 1910s.
 Third Annual Rally and Demonstration Begins at 2 O'clock. F ive thousand boys will take part in the third annual rally and demonstration of the Greater Boston Council of the Boy Scouts of America, to be held in the Stadium this afternoon. Beginning at 2 o'clock with a march in review, for which the Regiment Band will furnish music, the scouts will present a varied and extensive program lasting until "retreat" is sounded. Demonstrations as well as competitions are included in the festivities.
The territory from which the Council recruits its members includes not only Boston and the immediate suburbs, but also all of the townships within a radius of 25 miles. The rally today is the major event of the year for the scouts, and keen competition in all classes is expected. Thirty thousand people will probably witness the demonstrations. All scout activities will be represented in the events.
5,000 IN GREAT SCOUT RALLY Representatives of 42 Cities Reviewed in Stadium Saturday. T he Stadium was the scene of the third annual rally of the Boy Scouts of Greater Boston Saturday afternoon when over 5,000 scouts, representing 11 districts and 42 cities and towns took part in a series of events ranging from wall-scaling to lighting a fire without matches. Fully 20,000 parents and friends of the scouts were present in the big amphitheater to witness the exhibition which showed the unusual efficiency of the boys in first aid, woodcraft, and self-reliance.The exercises opened promptly at 2 o'clock with a review of the scouts who filed around the Stadium and before the reviewing stand where the officers of the local councils sat. The colors were then raised, the pledge of allegiance given and after the audience and the scouts sang "America" the field events began. Then in various parts of the field, signal towers built of light branches, which served as the framework for the human pyramids, sprang up. The fire lighting without matches then followed and in just 17 seconds there came to the representative of the Newton troop a reward in the form of a thin curl of smoke and the dry tinder burst into flame.
Chinese Boys Won Signalling. The semaphoring signalling contest was won by two Chinese boys, members of a troop of Chinese scouts in the first district, who repeated their victory of last year in this event. Some of the other demonstrations and competitions in the field day events included building a fire and boiling water, pyramid building for signaling purposes, making camps, and a bugle and drum corps review. The exercises closed with the lowering of the colors, "The Star Spangled Banner," and "retreat" sounded on the bugle.
The regiment band of the R.O.T.C. furnished most of the music for the scouts, who also contributed, however, with a bugle and drum band of 160 scouts, which provided one of the features of the afternoon as it paraded around the stadium, stopping before the reviewing stand, where the "to the colors" was sounded.
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