Blazing trails for more than a century.

Girl Scouts have always been leaders, in Southwest Texas and across the nation.

In 1912, when Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts in her own backyard in Savannah, Georgia, she ignited a movement where girls were encouraged to explore the world around them—and to do it together.

At a time when women in the United States couldn’t yet vote and were expected to stick to strict social norms, these first Girl Scouts were trailblazers, redefining what was possible for themselves and for girls everywhere. They played basketball, hiked, swam, and camped. They learned to tell time by the stars. And most importantly, they shared a sense of adventure and a belief that they could do anything.

1920s image of Texas Bluebonnet Huth Seed

The movement quickly spread.

With four Girl Scout troops already formed in San Antonio, Texas, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas (then known as Bexar County Council of Girl Scouts) was founded on March 11, 1924, with Sallie Ward Beretta as the council commissioner.

Soon after founding, Girl Scouts got to work, taking up Beretta’s cause of preserving and planting the state flower, the bluebonnet. They planted bluebonnet seeds along highways and mailed packets of seeds to other troops across Texas. Beretta became known as “The Bluebonnet Lady of Texas,” and conservation and exploring the outdoors remains a pillar of the Girl Scout experience.

Our Girl Scouts have participated in almost every Battle of Flowers® Parade during Fiesta® since our founding, including here in 1931.

1930s

The first council office was located at 630 W. Myrtle St. in downtown San Antonio, and the first campgrounds used by girls were on borrowed and rented property. After almost a decade camping outside of Comfort, 320 acres of land was purchased near Bandera and the Medina River in 1936, the same year council headquarteres moved to the Maverick Building downtown.

Girls also embraced Girl Scout Cookies, which at the time were baked and sold by girls and volunteers as fundraisers. In 1939, our council’s Girl Scouts sold 1,660 packages of cookies.

Our presence at the annual Battle of Flowers® Parade dates back to our early years as a council (pictured here in 1931). We still march in the parade every Fiesta®, carrying either the Texas or American flag.

Throughout the Great Depression, Girl Scouts participated in relief efforts by collecting clothing and food for those in need.

Girl Scouts pose with a car while at Camp La Jita in Utopia, Texas. La Jita opened in 1947.

1940s

Girl Scouts joined the wartime efforts during World War II, packing supplies and selling war stamps and bonds. Uniforms were modified to use buttons instead of zippers, and calendars were sold instead of cookies because of sugar, butter, and flour shortages.

In 1946, John and Martha Camp presented property near Utopia in Uvalde County along the Sabinal River that would become Camp La Jita as a gift to the council. Martha Camp served as president of the council from 1947 to 1951 and again in 1964 to 1968. The 236-acre camp remains the council’s premier resident camp—and it would reveal surprising history for generations of campers to discover.

In 1943, an advisory committee of Black school principals and other citizens was formed to begin the process of bringing Girl Scouting to Black girls. The first regional meeting of Black Girl Scout leaders was held in 1947 at San Antonio’s Wheatley High School, and in 1948, Zudora McCoy—affectionately called “Chief”—became the first Black council staff member.

Council staff member Zudora McCoy helped open Camp Mira Sol in May 1951 as the first resident camp for Black Girl Scouts in Texas.

1950s

One of Zudora McCoy’s first roles at GSSWT was securing a camp site for Black Girl Scouts. She found land near Waring, and Camp Mira Sol opened in the summer of May 1950 and formally dedicated on May 20, 1951—the first resident camp for Black Girl Scouts in Texas. It remained open until November 2015.

By 1956, both Camp La Jita and Camp Mira Sol had integrated. McCoy served in leadership positions at the council for 34 years and was loved by all. Girl Scouts across the country continued to push for inclusiveness and equality, with Ebony magazine reporting in 1952 that even in the South, “… Scouts were making slow and steady progress toward surmounting the racial barriers of the region.”

In July 1957, the council purchased the historic Groos House at 335 King William for use as its headquarters, which it would remain for more than 25 years. The house quickly became known as “Martha Manor” in honor of longtime benefactor Martha Camp.

The decade also saw the expansion of cookie sales. In 1954, a box of Girl Scout Cookies in San Antonio cost 40 cents, and 117,000 packages of cookies were sold in 1955.

Lady Olave Baden-Powell, co-founder of Girl Guides and its first Chief Guide for Britain visited San Antonio and our Girl Scouts in January 1964.

1960s

Girl Scouts in the 1960s continued to advocate for equality and focused their efforts on things that made a difference for the greater good. The council welcomed Lady Olave Baden-Powell, co-founder of Girl Guides (the worldwide movement of Scouting for girls, called Girl Scouts in the U.S.) and its first Chief Guide for Britain, in January 1964 and 1966.

For HemisFair ’68, the 1968 World’s Fair in San Antonio, the council hosted the National Intercultural Conference. Senior Girl Scouts from across the country were able to delve into the culture of the Americas and earn commemorative patches.

In 1967 at Camp La Jita, Texas archaeologist Dr. Tom Hester, a professor at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, teamed with the council during the first La Jita Site excavation. Thanks to this, it is known that early indigenous peoples likely occupied and camped at the site intermittently from the Early Archaic Period to the Late Prehistoric Period. The paleontology work also confirmed that dinosaurs, probably theropods, stalked the shallows of the site, leaving footprints in the limy mud below Council Rock and along the Sabinal Riverbed.

Photo of Lila Cockrell, first woman mayor of San Antonio

Girl Scouts pose with Lila Cockrell, the first woman mayor of San Antonio and a champion of the organization.

1970s

The 1970s brought much interest to environmental issues, and Congress established the Environmental protection Agency (EPA). In 1973, the Council sponsored the Salado Creek ecology project. Girl Scouts everywhere took firmer stands on environmental issues through the national “Eco-Action” program.

The council opened its first service center on the West Side of San Antonio, Casa Verde, in 1978. The council has had a center and a presence on the West Side ever since, currently with the West Side Girl Scout Leadership Center.

Dr. Gloria D. Scott was the first Black woman to be elected president of Girl Scouts of the USA at its National Council Session in 1975.

The National Council Session saw the unveiling of a new Trefoil featuring three faces of girls in silhouette and designed by renowned artist Saul Bass.

1980 image of old GSSWT sign that says San Antonio Area Council of Girl Scouts

GSSWT moved its headquarters from the King William District in downtown San Antonio to 10443 Gulfdale in April 1984.

1980s

The highest award a Senior or Ambassador Girl Scout can earn was renamed the Gold Award in 1980, and the council’s first Gold Award Girl Scout, Sharon Broadston, was honored in August 1981.

The council put its King William headquarters up for sale in 1981 and eventually sold the historic home to Charles C. Butt, chairman and CEO of H-E-B. New headquarters at 10443 Gulfdale opened in April 1984, with a special parlor dedicated to the memory of Martha Camp. The Parlor in the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center was designed in honor of that parlor and contains some of its original furnishings.

Trudy Batiste was named the first Black woman to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors for the council in 1983.

In 1988, Cyndi Taylor Krier was honored as the first Trefoil Award recipient by the council. The annual fundraiser honors a woman of distinction who has made a difference in her community.

In 1989, the council’s board worked with United Way to transition KIDS Camp at Camp Mira Sol to Camp C.A.M.P. (Children’s Association for Maximum Potential), which continues to work with children with disabilities.

Girl Scouts, family, and friends participate in the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., March in San Antonio in 1990.

1990s

Outreach to underserved areas in the council continued in 1992. The Avenida Guadalupe Girl Scout Center at 1410 Guadalupe St. in the San Antonio Independent School District opened, strengthening the council’s presence and work on the West Side.

The Order of the Silver Trefoil group for those who have been members of Girl Scouts for at least 25 years was chartered in 1992.

Martha Toscano was named the first Latina to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors in 1993.

The council hosted the first Great Girl Scout Cookie Concoction Contest in February 1995, where chefs created desserts using Girl Scout Cookies. Today’s version of this tradition is the Girl Scout Cookie Flavor Fest each winter during Girl Scout Cookie season and featuring area venues creating treats, drinks, and pairings using our cookies.

Patricia Diaz Dennis, the first Latina elected as chair of the National Board in 2005, posing at the missions with girl scouts

In 2009, Anna Marie Chávez became the first Latina to serve as CEO for the council, and in 2011 she was appointed CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA.

2000s

Patricia Diaz Dennis, of San Antonio, became the first Latina elected as chair of the National Board in 2005.

GSSWT celebrated the grand opening of its current headquarters, the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center at 811 N Coker Loop, on December 1, 2007. The Sally Cheever center was built as part of the council’s first capital campaign, which raised $8.8 million. Its namesake, Sally Cheever, was a Girl Scout and a volunteer for more than 40 years, raising four Girl Scouts of her own. The Cheever family has continued to carry her torch and support Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas.

In 2009, Anna Maria Chávez became the first Latina to serve as CEO for the council. In 2011, she was appointed CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, the first Latina to serve in that role as well.

Local Girl Scouts were featured on the packaging for Savannah Smiles Girl Scout Cookies, released in 2011 in honor of Girl Scouts’ centennial.

2010s

Our ways to be a Girl Scout had already evolved to offer programming through area schools and other after-school organizations. In 2010, Gamma Sigma Girls® (GSG), a sorority-type mentorship and leadership development program for high schoolers, was created. Its sister chapter, Gamma Sigma Pearls™, supports middle schoolers and is named after a jewel significant to the Girl Scout movement.

The first African American Advisory Committee Mother-Daughter Tea was held on February 26, 2011, to honor Black women for their contributions to the Girl Scout movement and continual strides to encourage young women.

Girl Scouts turned 100, celebrating its centennial on March 12, 2011. The Savannah Smiles Girl Scout Cookie was introduced that year in honor of the birthplace of founder Juliette Gordon Low and featured GSSWT Girl Scouts on the package cover.

GSSWT expanded its footprint on the city’s West Side in October 2012 by relocating from the Avenida center to the West Side Girl Scout Leadership Center at 5622 W César E. Chávez Blvd. in the former Coronado/Escobar Elementary School facility, part of the Edgewood Independent School District.

In 2014, Girl Scouts launched Digital Cookie®, through which Girl Scout Cookies were sold online by girls for the first time in the history of the iconic cookie program. Girl Scout programming also expanded to include more STEM subjects, including robotics and space science badges.

Inspired by the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl Child, GSSWT launched in 2019 Day of the Girl S.A. in partnership with the city and other girl-serving organizations to unite for a common goal: create awareness in the community and start developing a culture of philanthropy around our girls.

3 girl scouts at the riverwalk leaning on a bridge

Today’s Girl Scouts continue to thrive, seek new adventures, take action on issues they care about, and work to make the world a better place.

2020s

GSSWT was one of the first councils to offer virtual Girl Scout programming at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing girls with stability and fun learning experiences in a time of great uncertainty.

In September 2019, SWCA Environmental Consultants and the University of Texas at San Antonio – Center for Archaeological Research archaeologists, joined by Girl Scouts, embarked on an investigation at Camp La Jita. Together, we nominated the La Jita site as a State Antiquities Landmark designation, which the Texas Historical Commission formally approved in February 2021 and which preserves the site and its artifacts in perpetuity. Tthe council celebrated La Jita’s 75th anniversary in 2022.

In 2023, our Lotería para Líderes fundraiser became an official Fiesta® San Antonio event. The luncheon supports the West Side Girl Scout Leadership Center and its programming.

In 2024, we celebrated our centennial and publicly launched the major gifts campaign, A Backyard for all Girls, for a multipurpose outdoor space at the Sally Cheever center that will propel Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas into its next century.

Turning 100

Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas celebrated its centennial in 2024.

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Our History

Blazing trails for more than a century.

Girl Scouts have always been leaders, in Southwest Texas and across the nation.

The movement quickly spread.