William Hillcourt

William Hillcourt
William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt (L) and Lord Robert Baden-Powell (R), at Hillcourt Cottage, Schiff Scout Reservation, on July 15, 1935
Born	Vilhelm Hans Bjerregaard Jensen August 6, 1900 Aarhus, Denmark
Died	November 9, 1992 (aged 92) , Sweden
Resting place	St. Joseph's Cemetery, Mendham, New Jersey, United States
Residence	Mendham, New Jersey, United States
Nationality	Danish, American
Other names	Green Bar Bill
Occupation	Scouter
Employer	Boy Scouts of America
Known for	First U.S. Wood Badge course director, author including Boy Scout Handbook, Boy Scout Fieldbook, Patrol Leaders Handbook, and articles for Boys' Life and Scouting magazines.
Spouse(s)	Grace Brown
Parent(s)	Johannes Hans Bjerregaard Jensen Andrea Christine (nee Pedersen)
Awards	Knight-Scout, Denmark (1918) Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (1978) Silver Buffalo Award (1980) Bronze Wolf Award (1985)
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William Hillcourt (August 6, 1900 – November 9, 1992), known within the Scouting movement as "Green Bar Bill", was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization from 1927 to 1992. Hillcourt was a prolific writer and teacher in the areas of woodcraft, troop and patrol structure, and training; his written works include three editions of the BSA's official Boy Scout Handbook, with over 12.6 million copies printed, other Scouting-related books and numerous magazine articles. Hillcourt developed and promoted the American adaptation of the Wood Badge adult Scout leader training program.

Hillcourt was Danish, but moved to the United States as a young adult. From his start in Danish Scouting in 1910 until his death in 1992, he was continuously active in Scouting. He traveled all over the world teaching and training both Scouts and Scouters, earning many of Scouting's highest honors. His legacy and influence can still be seen today in the BSA program and in Scouting training manuals and methods for both youth and adults.

Hillcourt was born in 1900 in Aarhus, Denmark and was the youngest of three sons of a building contractor. He was given the name Vilhelm Hans Bjerregaard Jensen. Around 1930, he changed his name by anglicizing "Vilhelm", translating "Bjerregaard" into "Hill-court" and dropping "Jensen". His first published work was a poem about trolls and elves, printed by an Aarhus newspaper when he was nine years old. For Christmas 1910, Hillcourt's brother gave him a Danish translation of Scouting for Boys by Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout movement. He went on to earn the highest award in Danish Scouting, Knight-Scout in 1918, at age 17. He was selected to represent his troop at the 1st World Scout Jamboree in Olympia in 1920 where he first met Baden-Powell, with whom he was later to work.

While Hillcourt studied pharmacy in Copenhagen, he became more involved in Scouting. As a Scout leader, he became a Scoutmaster, national instructor, writer and then the editor for the Danish Scouting journal. He wrote his first book, The Island, recounting his early Scouting experiences.