July 2025 | Special Collections and Archives

Citation

Riley Hospital for Children Boy Scout Troop ca. 1930 UA24-001618

Black and white photograph. Four boys, aged seven to 11 sit in three wheeled wheel chair style devices, made of wood. Behind them stand seven other boys. All of them are wearing boy scout uniforms and are posing for the camera. Behind them all is a wooden stick fence and a totem pole carved with a sun and a fleur-de-lis. The ground is well worn dirt and the sky has puffy clouds.

Winning Entry!

While it would take several decades to catch on, Riley Boy Scouts are credited with the first viable design for the recumbent bike. - Andy Smith

Captions

The pre-race photo of the tragic 1954 Pinewood Derby competition which led leaders to ban scouts from driving and introduced the current small model format.

Photographic evidence that former IU School of Medicine dean and IUPUI chancellor Glenn Irwin (pictured at left) was a life-long pants hiker (https://library.indianapolis.iu.edu/captioncontest/caption_photo/2022/j…).

The legendary 1930 Riley Troop created and immediately awarded themselves the largest DIY Merit Badge in Scouting history.

Riley Troop's 50-mile hike took a brutal physical toll but could not squelch the spirit of this ragtag band of baggy-pants scouts!

These guys were learning true modern survival skills; here they were working on the all-important, coveted "Pose Like Dad" merit badge.

While it would take several decades to catch on, Riley Boy Scouts are credited with the first viable design for the recumbent bike.