In this compelling, expansive biography, Melissa Langley Biegert traces the family tree that produces Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America.

The adventures of the Kinzies and Gordons span 200 years of U.S. history, participating in settlement and revolution, westward expansion, industrialization, and war. Juliette Low descends from a line of founders: John Kinzie was one of the earliest settlers of the Chicago area, and Ambrose Gordon received a Georgia land grant for service in the Revolutionary War.

The women are as enterprising as the men; their portrayal here is nuanced and engaging. Eleanor Lytle’s time spent living with the Seneca imbues her son, John Harris Kinzie, with respect in his dealings with local Indigenous peoples. Juliette Magill, Daisy’s namesake, leaves valuable written records of her life on the frontier with John Harris Kinzie. And their daughter Nellie follows her heart to marry Southern planter and politician William Washington Gordon II, though this severs her from her Northern relatives when the Civil War erupts.

These narratives of struggle and loss, triumph and heartbreak, prepare readers to understand the determination that drives Daisy—who endures a disappointing marriage and near-total deafness—to pursue her vision: a worldwide organization, modeled on the Boy Scouts, that will cultivate survival skills, character, and civic pride in girls. The Girl Scouts’ success is the narrative’s crowning moment, though without undermining the rest of the family’s impressive achievements.

Langley Biegert handles a broad canvas with finesse, illuminating a national history in all its ingenuity and energy while acknowledging its flaws, including broken treaties with indigenous peoples and bitter justifications for enslaving black Americans. Her command of detail never overshadows her subjects, who emerge in depth and complexity through excerpts from personal letters, contemporary accounts, and archival photos.

This is an absorbing saga of a family and nation, with assured prose that fashions deeply researched history into a page-turning narrative. It is highly recommended to fans of American history.

Also available as an ebook.