Jane Deeter Rippin

Jane Parker Deeter Rippin (1882–1953) was an American social worker, who served as the national director of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 1919 until 1930. During her tenure, she saw Girl Scout membership quintuple from 50,000 to 250,000; she also oversaw the formation of local Girl Scout councils and the start of Girl Scout cookie sales. Background Rippin was born 30 May 1882 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Jasper Newton Deeter and Sarah Emily Mather. She married James Yardley Rippen in 1913 in Summerdale, Pennsylvania. Rippin trained as a teacher but decided to enter social work, finding a job at an orphanage. She went on to became a caseworker for the Philadelphia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and then a probation officer for the Municipal Court of Philadelphia. In 1916, Rippin became the city’s chief probation officer, in charge of five courts, over the objections of a prominent judge who felt that “the position should be held by a man.” She supervised 77 workers who made tens of thousands of “visits” a year, interviewing “warring couples,” abandoned children, indigent parents, and wayward young women. In 1917, she opened a "women offenders home" which included a treatment center, employment agency and court.