• U.S.

WOMEN: Indoor Girl

1 minute read
TIME

No outdoor girl is Mrs. Harvey Seeley Mudd, 48, wife of a Los Angeles mining engineer. Tall, dark, slender, until five years ago Mrs. Mudd was a typical society matron, noted for her large & lavish parties, her charitable activities, her ancient Roman jewelry (dug up in Cyprus). But five years ago Mrs. Herbert Hoover (who has become as well-known an ad for the Girl Scouts as Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt is for the airlines) suggested that the Girl Scouts be revitalized by people with fresh viewpoints, named Mrs. Mudd as a natural revitalizer.

Last week, after doubling the Los Angeles enrollment, efficient Mrs. Mudd was named at the national convention in Philadelphia as president of the Girl Scouts. Her program: new emphasis on the home as the smallest unit of democracy; training of Girl Scouts as homemakers rather than campfire-tenders. She re-emphasized the less glamorous, more practical side of Girl Scouting: not knot-tying but helping Mama with the dishes. On this program the rank & file were not consulted.

More Must-Reads from TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com