In 1935, two American Legion members in Illinois, Hayes Kennedy, a law instructor and Americanism chairman, and Harold Card, a Boy Scout leader and teacher,  created a hands‑on program to teach young people about democracy. They were concerned that some other camps at the time were pushing ideas that democracy was old‑fashioned. So they set up a “mock government” camp on the Illinois State Fairgrounds, where teens ran their own cities, held elections, and filled roles such as mayor, police chief, and sanitation officer. The students dove in, learning by doing and discovering how much work it takes to keep a government running. This ambitious project marked the birth of the nation’s Boys State program.

Two years later, the American Legion Auxiliary launched Girls State to provide young women with the same opportunity to develop leadership and citizenship skills. Since then, Boys State and Girls State programs have expanded nationwide, each tailored to its respective state but always focused on teaching how local, county, and state governments operate.

Today, more than one million students have participated in Boys State. While the world no longer faces the same Fascist camps of the 1930s, democracy still faces new challenges. Governments with very different systems and citizens who sometimes feel disconnected or discouraged. Boys State continues to provide high school students with a hands-on opportunity to practice leadership, understand public service, and deepen their commitment to the democratic values we share.

Boys State programs currently exist in all American Legion departments in the United States except Hawaii. While the structure and activities of each program vary slightly, all share the same core mission: to teach young citizens about the workings of government from the township to the state level.

Evergreen Boys State was first conducted in Washington State in 1940. In a historic stride toward delivering a more inclusive and relevant program, the American Legion Department of Washington approved a pilot in 2025 to transition its flagship civic education program into Evergreen Boys & Girls State. Beginning with the 2026 session, the program will be conducted as a fully co-educational experience under the authority of The American Legion Department of Washington.

Evergreen Boys & Girls State provides an immersive, week-long leadership laboratory where high school juniors from across Washington State come together to form a mock government. From legislative sessions to court proceedings, law enforcement presentations to spirited political campaigns, students actively engage in the civic process while building skills in leadership, communication, and public service.