Youth Argosy
Encyclopedia
Youth Argosy was an organization with tax exempt
status for educational and charitable purposes which was dedicated to helping students travel internationally. It was incorporated on May 11, 1948 by Monroe and Isabel Smith
who also founded American Youth Hostels
. Monroe Smith, a Boy Scout
executive, resigned his position with American Youth Hostels in 1949 to focus his efforts on Youth Argosy. He described the goal of Youth Argosy as to "provide travel opportunities for worthy young people of slender means that they may enjoy the benefits of foreign study and travel, that they may engage in reconstruction work, and other helpful projects and that they may make worldwide friendships regardless of race, color and creed." An age restriction was not imposed; the organization considered a student anyone seeking knowledge.
Youth Argosy was successful at first, sending more than 10,000 students abroad in 1949. Their average price for a round-trip ticket to Europe
was $375 and a round-the-world ticket was about $1,495. Students traveled alone or in groups. However, it was soon troubled by new rulings of the Civil Aeronautics Board changing regulations about charter flights. Youth Argosy went bankrupt in 1951.
The company was based out of Northfield, Massachusetts
. Members of the board of directors included Manfred Rauscher, Mary Ashby Cheek, John Rothschild, Armen D. Anderson, Jr., Stephen G. Cary, and Harry N. Holmes. Counsel for the organization was Greenbaum, Wolff, and Ernst
.
Student travelers with the organization were referred to as 'Argonauts', although etymologically 'argosy' has no relation to Jason and the Argonauts
.
Tax exemption
Various tax systems grant a tax exemption to certain organizations, persons, income, property or other items taxable under the system. Tax exemption may also refer to a personal allowance or specific monetary exemption which may be claimed by an individual to reduce taxable income under some...
status for educational and charitable purposes which was dedicated to helping students travel internationally. It was incorporated on May 11, 1948 by Monroe and Isabel Smith
Monroe and Isabel Smith
Monroe William Smith, a former Boy Scout executive and wife Isabel Bacheler Smith, art teacher, founded American Youth Hostels as a young couple, in 1934, in Northfield, Massachusetts...
who also founded American Youth Hostels
American Youth Hostels
American Youth Hostels, Inc. is a 501 nonprofit membership organization founded in 1934 by Monroe W. Smith, whose formal name is Hostelling International USA . It is the American member of Hostelling International. It is incorporated in New York.Youth hostels offer inexpensive temporary...
. Monroe Smith, a Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
executive, resigned his position with American Youth Hostels in 1949 to focus his efforts on Youth Argosy. He described the goal of Youth Argosy as to "provide travel opportunities for worthy young people of slender means that they may enjoy the benefits of foreign study and travel, that they may engage in reconstruction work, and other helpful projects and that they may make worldwide friendships regardless of race, color and creed." An age restriction was not imposed; the organization considered a student anyone seeking knowledge.
Youth Argosy was successful at first, sending more than 10,000 students abroad in 1949. Their average price for a round-trip ticket to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
was $375 and a round-the-world ticket was about $1,495. Students traveled alone or in groups. However, it was soon troubled by new rulings of the Civil Aeronautics Board changing regulations about charter flights. Youth Argosy went bankrupt in 1951.
The company was based out of Northfield, Massachusetts
Northfield, Massachusetts
Northfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,951 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. Members of the board of directors included Manfred Rauscher, Mary Ashby Cheek, John Rothschild, Armen D. Anderson, Jr., Stephen G. Cary, and Harry N. Holmes. Counsel for the organization was Greenbaum, Wolff, and Ernst
Morris Ernst
Morris Leopold Ernst was an American lawyer and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union.He was born in Uniontown, Alabama on Aug. 23, 1888, to a Czech-born father and German mother. He lived in various locations around New York City from the age of 2...
.
Student travelers with the organization were referred to as 'Argonauts', although etymologically 'argosy' has no relation to Jason and the Argonauts
Argonauts
The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
.