Not originally published in LIFE. Boy Scout, Milwaukee, 1971. (John Shearer—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Click here to see the full collection at LIFE.com In its June 1971 issue, in which a handful of Shearer’s photographs first ran, LIFE made it plain that the Boy Scouts were at something of a crossroads at the dawn of the Seventies. In an article titled, “Scouting Blazes a Trail Into the Ghetto,” the magazine told its millions of readers: The Boy Scouts of America marched into the 1960s still duty-bound to knot-tying, overnight hikes and helping little old ladies — and woefully out of step with a majority of the nation’s restive youth. They had no handbook solutions for the alienation of suburban boys or the hostility of ghetto kids to the traditionally white, middle-class scouting programs. Then, during the riotous summer of 1967 in Cincinnati’s Basin section, a Southern white Scout organizer unexpectedly appeared at the barricades. He risked snipers’ bullets to rescue injured blacks and mediated a peace between City Hall and the ghetto. Finally, he got permission or a militant street gang to sponsor three Scout troops, and recruited ghetto types — many of whom could not have repeated the Scouts’ Oath with a straight face — to help get things going. What might be called the radicalization of the Boy Scouts had begun. The Cincinnati experience became a watershed in the movement’s search for a new constituency. City boys now learn to read subway maps and practice rat-bite cures instead if studying terrain maps and snake-bite remedies. Brotherhood in scouting has taken on a new meaning. But despite the highest membership ever — 4.6 million [Note: It's fewer than 3 million today] — scouting still suffers from a “ghetto gap.” Only 16% of boys eligible in urban areas join, as compared to 25% elsewhere. But the percentages are rising. Accompanying the new urban emphasis is a new liberalism in the ranks: women scoutmasters, protest, long hair and a program encouraging boys to get a “a natural high” from scouting rather than to get stoned on drugs. The old motto, “Be Prepared,” has been replaced with an unofficial new one: “Be Relevant.” Forty years later, the Boy Scouts of America are once again face to face with that simple admonition — and complicated challenge. — Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com Related Topics: 1971, black and white photography, Boy Scouts, Chicago, John Shearer, Los Angeles, New York City Related Galleries Al Fenn—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images '40s LIFE in the Snow: Photos From the Great Blizzard of 1947 California Boy Scouts, 1971 '70s LIFE With the Boy Scouts, 1971: Photos From an Era of Change Zsa Zsa Gabor with her dog, Farouk, California, 1951. '50s LIFE With Zsa Zsa: Rare Photos of ‘Another … Photo from the streets of Watts, Calif., 1966. '60s The Fire Last Time: LIFE in Watts, 1966 An ornate helmet adorned with semi-nude figures sits in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. '30s Art House: LIFE at the Met Museum, 1939 Howard Sochurek—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images '60s LIFE and Civil Rights: Anatomy of a Protest, Virginia, 1960