Poem: It's Only A Pin
Stephen M. Henning
text of it appears at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~scouters/eagle.html#anchor525106
Many of us recently received letters disputing the ownership of this
poem. I am writing this to summarize the results of research into the
ownership.
S. Kurtz Hingley, wrote the first version of this poem for his son's
COH. In 1930 it was published in the Quaker City Scout, the newsletter
of the Philadelphia Council. In 1931, it was published in the May issue
of Scouting Magazine, page 20, (a BSA publication).
Then in 1955, it was published in the BSA pamphlet entitled "Troop
Ceremonies" on pages 86 and 87 in a slightly revised form which appears
at http://home.earthlink.net/~scouters/eagle.html#anchor525106
In 1977, Sumner G. Oesterle changed 3 words in this revised version and
copywrote the entire poem. The only changes he made was to make the
first line read: "Two fond parents watch their ...".
Here is a history of the changes:
Title (1931) THE EAGLE SCOUT
Title (1955) (none)
Title (1977) IT 'S ONLY A PIN
1st stanza (31/55) A fond mother watches her boy ..
1st stanza (77) Two fond parents watch their boy ...
3rd stanza (31) But three years have gone ...
3rd stanza (55/77) But the years have gone ...
4th stanza (31) You may smile with your worldly wise wisdom ...
4th stanza (55/77) You may smile in your worldly old wisdom ...
last stanza (31) ... But the heart that's beneath it is true ...
last stanza (55/77) ... But the heart that's beneath it beats true ...
Credit (31) -S. KURTZ HINGLEY in "The Quaker City Scout."
Credit (55) (none)
Credit (77) Sumner G Oesterle
I wish to acknowledge the following people who help to research this:
Carol Parillo, Hingley's granddaughter, knew that the poem was
originally written in 1930 or 1931 by S. Kurtz Hingley while he was a
Boy Scout Field Executive in Philadelphia. The poem was published
separately in a local Philadelphia Scouting newsletter called The Quaker
City Scout.
Russ Kolski, Boys' Life Collector, found it published in the May 1931,
Scouting Magazine on page 20.
Mark Ray, webmaster of http://www.eaglebook.com, said that the earliest
he's seen the poem is the 1956 BSA publication "Troop Ceremonies", which
was published in 1955, on pages 86 & 87. [I verified that by getting out
my 1957 copy.]
Slo Oesterle (daughter of Sumner Oesterle) wrote that her father had
written a very similar version in 1975.
The U.S. Copyright Office registered this version to Joanne L. Oesterle
on August 5, 2003 after she claimed it was published on March 12, 1977
by her husband, Sumner G. Oesterle.
I have no idea if the changes are significant regarding copyright law,
but to claim someone else's work when you only change 3 words is
ridiculous. I feel strongly that since this poem is a great tool for
Eagle Ceremonies and since it has several BSA copyrights that it should
remain in the public domain and that S. Kurtz Hingley should get the
bulk of the credit.
--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to rhod...@earthlink.net
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman
Any Mouse
> I have no idea if the changes are significant regarding copyright law,
> but to claim someone else's work when you only change 3 words is
> ridiculous. I feel strongly that since this poem is a great tool for
> Eagle Ceremonies and since it has several BSA copyrights that it should
> remain in the public domain and that S. Kurtz Hingley should get the
> bulk of the credit.
I have a feeling that a protest would be upheld. If I use the phrase,
"Luke, I am your father." in a book that I write, George Lucas
wouldn't have a very strong case against me. On the other hand, if I
copied the story and changed that phrase to "Luke, I am your parent,"
the lawyers would have a field day.
Maybe you should contact the copywright folks and lodge a protest.