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Arthur Rose Eldred (August 16, 1895 – January 4, 1951) was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As a 17-year-old candidate for the highest rank bestowed by the BSA, he was personally interviewed by a panel composed of the youth organization's founding luminaries, including Ernest Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard. Eldred was awarded the coveted distinction of Eagle Scout on September 2, 1912, becoming the first of more than two million boys in the U.S. since then to earn Scouting's most vaunted rank.〔 Eldred also received the Bronze Honor Medal for lifesaving, and was the first of four generations of Eagle Scouts in his family. A graduate of Cornell University, Eldred enlisted at age 22 in the United States Navy in January 1918, nine months after the U.S. entry into World War I. After serving aboard various Navy vessels and seeing combat in that conflict, he then worked in the agriculture and produce transportation industries, serving as a railroad industry official. Eldred continued as an active Scout leader and school board member throughout much of his adult life. ==Scouting as a youth== Eldred was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Oceanside, Long Island, New York by his mother after his father died. Eldred’s older brother, Hubert W. Eldred, was instrumental in starting Troop 1 of Oceanside, Long Island, New York in November 1910. Troop 1 was fully uniformed and their appearance so impressed Chief Scout Executive James E. West that he asked the troop to serve as honor guard for the visit of Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. West paid the expenses for the troop to travel to New York on January 31, 1912. Baden-Powell inspected Troop 1, and spoke with Eldred at some length.〔 In March 1911, Eldred earned First Class rank. In April 1912, he completed the 21 merit badges required for Eagle Scout. Merit badges are awards for mastering skills taught in the Scouting program. At the time, only 141 merit badges had then been earned by about 50 Scouts. As originally implemented, Eagle Scout was part of the merit badge system and was not a rank. Thus Eldred, like several of the early Eagles, did not earn the Life or Star awards that later preceded Eagle Scout.〔〔 Eldred's merit badges were noted in the Honor Roll of the August 1912 edition of ''Boys' Life''.〔 Eldred did not have a troop board of review, a review by the adult troop leaders to ensure eligibility.〔 Instead, Eldred had a thorough National Board of Review consisting of West, Ernest Thompson Seton, Daniel Carter Beard, and Wilbert E. Longfellow, who wrote in the ''Handbook for Boys'' on life-saving and swimming. At the time there had still not been a council-level system for Eagle Scouts boards of review.〔 West informed Eldred of his Eagle award in a letter dated August 21, 1912.〔 This letter also informed Eldred of the delay in the medal, caused by the fact that the design of the Eagle Scout medal had not been finalized. Eldred was presented Eagle Scout on Labor Day, September 2, 1912, becoming the first to earn Scouting's highest rank, just two years after the founding of the BSA itself.〔〔 In August 1912, Eldred was camping with the troop in Orange Lake, New York. While swimming in the lake, fifteen-year-old Melvin Daly, another Scout who was a non-swimmer, began to drown. Eldred rescued Daly with the assistance of Merritt Cutler. Chief Scout Seton presented Eldred with the Honor Medal for this action.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur Rose Eldred」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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