Troop 163

Troop 163 follows an all-girl Boy Scout troop based in Closter, NJ. As the Boy Scouts of America opened to girls in 2019, the project looks at the tension between innocence and initiation in an institution shaped by masculine tradition.

Troop 163 follows the story of an all-girl "Boy Scout" troop based in Closter, New Jersey. In 2019, for the first time in its 100+ year history, the Boy Scouts (renamed Scouting America) officially opened its ranks to girls. Troop 163 was among the early adopters, offering young girls entry into an institution long defined by outdoor survivalism, civic service, and moral codes rooted in masculine tradition.

This inclusion also brings with it deeper cultural and political legacies. Scouting’s language of duty, service, and preparedness has long been tied to patriotism and national belonging. Through the girls’ training, including camping, first aid, leadership, and survival skills, the project traces the tension between innocence and initiation, and between individual growth and collective legacy.

The work combines black-and-white and color imagery to convey different dimensions of the Troop members’ experiences. While black-and-white often emphasizes reflective, sensory, or metaphorical scenes, color images capture public ceremonies and moments, showing how these experiences contrast.

Ultimately, Troop 163 explores what it means for these girls to come of age in an institution shaped by historical structure and a foundational motto of duty to God and country. It shows how tradition, belief, and identity converge, at a time when civic responsibility and the meaning of patriotic ideals are being tested. 

That tension has only sharpened in recent months, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly called for Scouting America to revert to an all-male institution, followed by Scouting's response, offering to drop a Citizenship in Society merit badge (that promoted diversity) and add a Military Service badge in hopes of keeping its Pentagon partnerships intact. These recent dynamics have cast these girls, and the 200,000 like them across the country, as unwilling symbols in a broader cultural battle over who belongs.