One woman received a special honor Friday after she was denied the chance to join the troop in the 1960s.
"This was total surprise to become now an inductee of the Girl Scouts at 62 years of age,” said San Diego resident Daphyne Watson.
Watson said she was denied the chance to join the organization in elementary school in New York because she was black.
Her granddaughter’s troop, Girl Scout Troop 4044, held an Investiture ceremony to make Watson an inductee girl scout. The ceremony invited her into the troop.
In 1960, Watson was in second grade in Smithtown, Long Island, New York when her teacher announced that each girl wanting to join the Brownies troop needed to stay after school.
When it was time for Watson’s meeting, her teacher told her black girls couldn’t join the girl scouts. At the time, Girl Scouts had a non-discrimination policy, but not all troops followed the policy.
Watson admitted she was skeptical of the Girl Scouts at first, but as she became an adult, she realized what they were doing for the community and fully supported the organization.
