Carroll A. Edson

Edson was hired by the Philadelphia Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1915 as a Field Commissioner. He was then appointed as the Assistant Camp Director in charge of commissary at Treasure Island Scout Reservation.^[7] There he worked with the Camp Director E. Urner Goodman to create an experimental camp fraternity program called the Wimachtendienk, later known as the Order of the Arrow. After attending a speech by Ernest Thompson Seton on his Woodcraft Indians program, Edson urged that American Indian lore be incorporated into the fraternity.^[8] This was to make the organization more appealing to youth. Edson himself researched the history and language of the Lenni Lenape (the Delaware Indians) in order to make the names and culture of the program authentic. He and Goodman conducted the original rituals and the speaking roles at the public campfire were primarily done by Edson.^[8] He was the second to receive the Vigil Honor and kept his Vigil in 1917.

In 1921 Edson was hired by the Chicago Area Council as a Field Executive for the South Shore District. In that position he founded five more Order of the Arrow lodges in Chicago. He was the Chairman in 1921 for the first Grand Lodge Meeting where he ran for Grand Lodge Chieftain, but lost to Goodman. At the second Grand Lodge Meeting in 1922, Edson ran again for Chieftain, but lost to Arthur Schuck, the Grand Treasurer.^[9] Edson ran unopposed and became the Grand Lodge Chieftain in 1923 at the Third Grand Lodge Meeting.^[10]

In 1927 Edson was hired to be the Scout Executive for Hudson Council (currently part of Northern New Jersey Council) in Jersey City, New Jersey. He remained in this position until he left Scouting in 1931.^[4]

Edson was also one of the inaugural Distinguished Service Award recipients in 1940. He later returned in the 1960s and became active again in the Order of the Arrow.

Edson se unió al ejército y asistió al primer campo de entrenamiento de oficiales en Plattsburgh, Nueva York , en 1917. Durante la Primera Guerra Mundial sirvió como capitán en el Ejército de los Estados Unidos con la 77.ª División. En 1931 asistió a la Escuela de Infantería en Fort Benning y luego, en 1936, a la Escuela de Comando y Estado Mayor en Fort Leavenworth . Fue ascendido a coronel en 1938 y llamado nuevamente al servicio activo como instructor en la Escuela de Comando y Estado Mayor en 1940. Sirvió en ambas Guerras Mundiales y fue miembro de la Asociación de Oficiales Retirados . ^{[ 5 ]}

En 1935, Edson trabajó como director del programa educativo del Cuerpo Civil de Conservación y como asesor educativo del Cuartel General del Cuarto Cuerpo en Atlanta, Georgia .

Edson luego se convirtió en gerente de la oficina de la Administración del Seguro Social en Syracuse en 1937, donde trabajó durante veinticinco años hasta que se jubiló en 1961. ^{[ 5 ] [ 4 ]}