Many Friends, Many Flags

In the summer of 1956, more than 5,000 Girl Scouts from around the country and around the world gathered at Highland Recreation Area for the first Girl Scout Senior Roundup. The two-week event aimed to let the girls meet one another and enjoy Americana through songs, folk dance, and American arts and crafts, deepening their appreciation for American traditions and customs. Preparations included special trains into Michigan Central Station in Detroit, clearing land for 3,000 tents, and the U.S. Army building an outdoor arena for 10,000 people. In a message read at the opening campfire on June 30, 1956, First Lady Mamie Doud Eisenhower expressed confidence that the girls would return home strengthened in their knowledge of American heritage and in the cause of good citizenship. The attending Senior Girl Scouts represented all 48 states, the territories of Alaska and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and several foreign countries. The roundup created a square-mile tent settlement where girls enjoyed the outdoors, relaxed together, joined organized activities, exchanged keepsakes such as pins, luggage tags, and wooden dollars, and met at the popular Swap Tent. Most of the $340,000 budget went for food, bug spray, and treatment of new dirt roads to reduce blowing dust. Part of the site included the landmark Edsel Ford Barn, a surviving part of the original Ford estate that became part of Highland Recreation Area in the 1940s.

Michigan · United States