author
Agnes Baden-Powell
1858–1945
Best known for helping launch the Girl Guides, she turned a new idea about girls’ independence, service, and outdoor adventure into a movement with lasting global reach. Her life also reflected a wide range of practical talents, from music and natural history to hands-on craftwork.
1 Audiobook
How Girls Can Help Their Country
by Juliette Gordon Low, Agnes Baden-Powell, Baron Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell Baden-Powell of Gilwell
About the author
Born in London on December 16, 1858, Agnes Smyth Baden-Powell was the younger sister of Robert Baden-Powell and became a key early leader in girls’ scouting. Reliable reference sources describe her as a co-founder of the Girl Guides in 1910, helping shape the movement as a counterpart to the Boy Scouts.
She is often remembered not simply as an organizer, but as someone with broad interests and a practical, curious mind. Accounts of her life note her skills in music, nature study, and crafts, qualities that fit naturally with the early Guiding emphasis on self-reliance, learning by doing, and public service.
Agnes Baden-Powell died on June 2, 1945. Although later public attention often centered on other figures in scouting history, her role in giving girls a place in the movement remains one of her most important achievements.