The Family Behind the Girl Scouts of America: Lives of the Kinzie-Gordon Clan, 1750s-1950s tells the incredible saga of Girl Scout founder Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low’s family, a real-life epic filled with history, romance, and scandals. In 1912 Low launched what became one of the 20th century’s most successful organizations for young women, eclipsing the generations of male politicians, business leaders, and sometimes scoundrels who had previously brought prosperity and notoriety to her family. Yet the history of her family proved to be the key to her greatest accomplishment. Born of a marriage that united two leading American families—the Northern Kinzies and the Southern Gordons—and which was almost torn apart by the U.S. Civil War, Daisy leaned on the unwavering love and support of her parents and siblings to overcome a lifetime of physical challenges and a scandalous divorce battle that shocked Victorian society. The roots of their story began in colonial America, among Scottish immigrant clans separated by jealousy and violence. Spanning some two hundred years across multiple continents and told for the first time in its entirety, the saga of the Kinzie-Gordon family intersects with that of numerous famous figures, Indigenous cultures, and enslaved workers. Based on solid academic research, but written for a popular adult audience, the book has been described by the author as “The Forsytes meets The Gilded Age, spanning from Outlander through Bridgerton and Downton Abbey, but all true!” Their story reflects the history of the United States itself through tragedy, triumph, and love.
