Silver Beaver Award#History

{{Short description|Council-level service award of Scouting America}}

{{Infobox WorldScouting

|type=award

|name=Silver Beaver Award

|image=Silver Beaver Award.png

|caption=Silver Beaver medal and square knot

|f-date=1931

|owner=Scouting America

|country=United States

|members=50,000+{{cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-513.aspx |title=Distinguished Service Awards |access-date=2007-04-10 |work=Fact Sheets |publisher=Boy Scouts of America |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319103951/http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-513.aspx |archive-date=2008-03-19 }}

|award-for=Distinguished service to youth in a council

| next = Silver Antelope Award

| prev = District Award of Merit

}}

The Silver Beaver Award is the council-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. Recipients of the award are registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council.

Those deemed worthy of the award by their local council must be approved by the National Court of Honor. Upon their approval, recipients are presented with a silver beaver pendant suspended from a blue and white ribbon, as well as the corresponding square knot.{{cite web |url=https://www.scouting.org/awards/awards-central/silver-beaver/ |title=Silver Beaver Award |publisher=Boy Scouts of America}}

History

The Silver Beaver was introduced in 1931 as a pin-on medal, but due to the heavy weight of the medallion it was switched over to a neck ribbon in mid-1932.{{cite web |url=http://mitchreis.com/beaver.htm |title=Silver Beaver Medals |access-date=2007-04-10 |first=Mitch |last=Reis |work=Boy Scout Memorabilia, Patches And Collectibles Home Page}} A blue-white-blue ribbon bar was introduced in 1934 for informal uniform wear. In 1946, ribbon bars were replaced by the current knot insignia.{{cite web |url=http://www.sageventure.com/history/knothist/IllustratedHistoryofKnotEvolutionPart1.pdf |title=Illustrated History of BSA Square Knot Evolution and Private Issues |access-date=2007-08-02 |work=SageVenture }}

The Silver Beaver was initially awarded only to men. The Silver Fawn Award, an equivalent for women, was awarded starting in 1971. It used the same knot insignia, but on a blue background, as women were mostly involved in Cub Scouting during this period. The Silver Fawn was discontinued and the Silver Beaver began to be awarded to women in 1974. A total of 2,455 Silver Fawns were awarded to outstanding women for support of Cub Scouting before the award was discontinued in 1974.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/~PACK215/silver-fawn.html |title=The Silver Fawn Medal |access-date=2008-04-12 |work=The Virtual Cub Leader's Handbook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026181623/http://geocities.com/~pack215/silver-fawn.html|url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-10-26}}

Using the United States Military as the model, silver awards are the highest awards in Scouting America.{{cite web |title=Silver Outranks Gold |url=http://www.sageventure.com/history/silver |access-date=2011-11-11 |work=SageVenture}}{{cite web |last=Wendell |first=Bryan |date=2011-04-14 |title=Ask the Expert: Why does silver outrank gold in Scouting awards? |url=http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2011/04/14/ask-the-expert-why-does-silver-outrank-gold-in-scouting-awards/ |access-date=2011-11-11 |work=Bryan on Scouting}}

Notable recipients

References

Category:Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America

Category:Awards established in 1931