page_title: R. Tait McKenzie
section_title: The Ideal Scout
hierarchical_section_title: R. Tait McKenzie / Selected works / The Ideal Scout
caption_attribution_description: English: Ideal Scout Statue by Robert Tait McKenzie, 22nd &amp; Winter Streets, Philadelphia, PA
context_page_description: Robert Tait McKenzie was a Canadian physician, educator, sculptor, athlete, soldier and Scouter. Born in Ramsay Township, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada, he attended McGill University in Montreal as an undergraduate and medical student, and was an instructor in its medical school beginning in 1894. In 1904, he moved to the United States to teach at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the 1930s, he returned to the county of his birth, retiring to the Mill of Kintail in Almonte.
  He pioneered physical fitness programs in Canada. During World War I, his methods and inventions for restoring and rehabilitating wounded soldiers laid a foundation for modern physiotherapy practices.
context_section_description: His most famous sculpture is The Ideal Scout (1937), also known as The Boy Scout. His original 1915 statuette is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The first full-size casting was placed in front of the Cradle of Liberty Council in Philadelphia in 1937, and stood there until 2013. Replicas can be found at Boy Scout offices across the United States, as well as at Gilwell Park in London, England.
caption: The Ideal Scout (1937), Philadelphia
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