Military Edson joined the military and attended the first officer's training camp at
Plattsburgh, New York, in 1917. During
World War I he served as a
captain in the
United States Army with the 77th Division. In 1931 he attended
Infantry School at
Fort Benning and then in 1936 he attended the
Command and General Staff School at
Fort Leavenworth. He was promoted to
colonel in 1938 and recalled to active duty as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School in 1940. He served in both World Wars and was a member of
The Retired Officers Association. There he worked with the Camp Director
E. Urner Goodman to create an experimental camp fraternity program called the Wimachtendienk, later known as the
Order of the Arrow. After attending a speech by
Ernest Thompson Seton on his
Woodcraft Indians program, Edson urged that
American Indian lore be incorporated into the fraternity. This was to make the organization more appealing to youth. Edson himself researched the history and language of the
Lenni Lenape (the Delaware Indians) in order to make the names and culture of the program authentic. He and Goodman conducted the original rituals and the speaking roles at the public campfire were primarily done by Edson. Edson ran unopposed and became the Grand Lodge Chieftain in 1923 at the Third Grand Lodge Meeting. In 1927 Edson was hired to be the Scout Executive for Hudson Council (currently part of
Northern New Jersey Council) in
Jersey City, New Jersey. He remained in this position until he left Scouting around 1933. He later returned in the 1960s and became active again in the OA. He was also one of the inaugural
Distinguished Service Award recipients in 1940.
Educator In 1935 Edson served as an education program director for the
Civilian Conservation Corps and an education adviser for the Fourth Corps Area Headquarters in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Management Edson then became the manager for the
Social Security Administration's office in Syracuse in 1937 where he worked for twenty-five years until he retired in 1961. == Death ==