Volunteer nonprofit organization in the United States
This article is about the women's organization. For the baseball division, see Junior League Baseball. For the professional wrestling tournament, see AJPW Junior League.
Junior League
Predecessor
Junior League for the Promotion of the Settlement Movement, New York Junior League
The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With 298 Junior League chapters in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom as of 2024,[2] it is one of the oldest and largest of its kind.[clarification needed] Members engage in developing civic leadership skills, fundraising, and volunteering on committees to support partner community organizations related to foster children, domestic violence, human trafficking, illiteracy, city beautification, and other issues. Its mission is to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
Inspired by a lecture on settlement movements that chronicled the works of social reformers such as Lillian Wald and Jane Addams, Harriman Rumsey organized others to become involved in settlement work. The organization's first project was working at the College Settlement on Rivington Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side. These were the early days of privileged young girls and women leaving their sheltered lives in wealthy neighborhoods to volunteer their time with those who lived in crowded, poverty-stricken areas of cities. This started a legacy of volunteering and social activism that would continue for many decades.
For many years the NYJL's clubhouse was located at 221 East 71st Street in Manhattan. Designed by architect John Russell Pope and opened in 1929, the building contained a swimming pool on the top floor, bedrooms for volunteers, a ballroom, a hairdressing salon, and a shelter for up to 20 abandoned babies.[5][6]Marymount Manhattan College currently owns the building.[6] In 1950 the NYJL clubhouse moved to the former Vincent Astor townhouse (Astor House) at 130 East 80th Street, where it remains as of 2020.[5]
The League quickly branched out and in 1907 became the Junior League for the Promotion of Neighborhood Work. Under President Dorothy Whitney, the League introduced formal training on “social problems” and expanded the scope of their work to include civic issues such as the civic role for women, police, and immigration (100 Years, 25-26). During this time, a number of sister leagues formed in cities including Brooklyn, New York and Portland, Oregon although there was no formal affiliation with the first New York league. A number of other debutante circles, like the Sewing Circle League of Boston began to emulate the League in New York and focus on local social issues (100 Years, 26). Eleanor Roosevelt was an early member of the NYJL, joining in 1903 when she was 19 years old.[4]
In 1921, thirty Leagues joined to form a national association. Until this point, Leagues were only connected by a Bulletin, containing updates about various leagues, and an annual conference. The national association was named the Association of Junior Leagues of America, Inc. and acted as an umbrella organization (Volunteer, 61). A new Constitution was written, and the Board was tasked with acting as an information bureau for the leagues, as well as continuing to publish the Bulletin and coordinating the annual meeting (100 Years, 47.) After serving as New York City's Junior League president from 1907 to 1910, Dorothy Payne Whitney was nominated as the first president of AJLA. Despite the name, there was membership of Leagues located both in America and Canada at the time of the incorporation (100 Years, 61).
AJLA continued to expand in the number of Leagues and in programming. By the middle of the 20th century there were over 150 Junior Leagues located in the United States, Canada, and Mexico (100 Years, 10). There was also a noticeable demographic shift in League members. More and more league members were young, working women or were older, suburban housewives as opposed to debutantes (100 Years, 94). In 1985, a Junior League was established in London which was the first League established outside of North America (100 Years, 154-155). This prompted a name change with the organization official becoming the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (History Timeline).
Voluntarism
The idea that women can meaningfully contribute to solving social issues and bettering communities through voluntarism has been a core tenet of the Junior League since its conception. In the Junior League’s 1906 Annual Report, Harriman Rumsey emphasized the organization’s imperative to alleviate civic ills: “It seems almost inhuman that we should live so close to suffering and poverty ... within a few blocks of our own home and bear no part in this great life” (100 Years, Introduction). This altruistic spirit inspired Harriman Rumsey to organize a group of 80 young women to volunteer for the College Settlement on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Every week, League members would teach classes, hand out library books and engage in other enriching activities for children at the settlement house. Eleanor Roosevelt, who joined the Junior League in 1903 and served as League secretary in 1904, also taught dance and calisthenic classes at the Rivington Street Settlement House (100 Years, 21).
The Junior League House for Working Girls (Junior League Hotel) grew out of the organization’s early volunteer work with settlement movements. Dorothy Payne Whitney, president of the New York League from 1907 to 1909, and League members began to engage in conversations around how they might best support working women in the city. There was an interest in creating affordable, sanitary and comfortable accommodations solely for women – an alternative to tenement housing that would also protect against discrimination on the basis of nationality or religion. In 1909, the Junior League erected a six-story building on the corner of 78th street and East End Avenue, which would serve as the Junior League Hotel until its closure in 1931. At a rate of $4 to $7 a week, residents were provided a range of amenities including a library, roof garden, laundry, and tennis and basketball courts. The Junior League Hotel served as a model for Junior Leagues in other cities, many of which sponsored their own residential hotels and services for working women (100 Years, 21).
As Junior Leagues began to crop up in cities across the United States during the 1910s, the organization restated its mission with a focus on bolstering “an interest in all kinds of charitable and social effort” among its members, as well as supporting “already organized philanthropies” (100 Years, 27). This wide-ranging agenda would go on to encompass volunteering efforts around the country related to education, voting rights, child welfare and historic preservation, among other areas.
Education reform
Over the early years of the League’s development, education emerged as a central aspect of the organization’s efforts to advance social causes. Through the School and Home Visitors program, the League sponsored teachers to assist with bolstering communication between schools and immigrant parents, and by 1909, the League was supplying schools with visiting teachers and volunteer tutors (100 Years, 23). School and Home Visitors, which began as a pilot project, was ultimately so successful that in 1910, New York state absorbed responsibility for the program and expanded its funding and reach. Nathalie Henderson, a League co-founder and chair of the organization’s Committee on Visiting Teachers of the Public Education Society, went on to chair New York’s joint Committee for Education and serve as a trustee at Teachers College, Columbia University (100 Years, 24).
When a League was organized in Brooklyn in 1910, the members petitioned the Board of Education to provide free lunches in public schools and transform vacant lots into playgrounds (100 Years, 26).
This advocacy work continued after World War II, when the Baby Boom created an additional need for resources to support schools, playgrounds, and teachers. With a shortage of teachers, League members volunteered in diagnostic programs and those for gifted and challenged children. By the mid-1950s, over 100 Leagues established public play areas for children (100 Years, 104).
In the 1980s, the Junior League participated in and led several campaigns for literacy. Along with other national organizations, the League joined in PLUS (Project Literacy US), a coordinated effort to expand literacy as a way of preventing against the spread of homelessness (100 Years, 140). Later that decade, First Ladies of the United States and Junior League members Barbara Bush and Laura Bush founded The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The Foundation granted over $6 million to more than 200 Family Literacy Programs across the country in its first decade of operations. Laura Bush spearheaded an initiative in early childhood development to help infants and children get a leg up on reading before entering school (100 Years, 144).
Suffrage movement
In 1914, the St. Louis Junior League mobilized to support women’s suffrage. They staged a demonstration – what the St. Louis women referred to as a “walkless, talkless parade” - at the 1916 Democratic National Convention, which ultimately resulted in the Democrats voting to include a plank for women's suffrage. The St. Louis League expressed their support in various ways, including reforming the organization as The League of Women Voters, a new group (100 Years, 36).
One year after Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Junior League held its annual conference in St. Louis. With discussions swirling around women’s suffrage at the conference, the League decided to form Legislative committees that would focus on “city or state laws, especially those affecting the social welfare of women and children” (100 Years, 37).
Child welfare
Junior Leagues have historically advanced causes related to the well-being of women and children in various ways. Leagues across the country pioneered these efforts. Tucson, Arizona established the city’s first day nursery, and Cincinnati established the Junior League Welfare Station, a clinic created to care for the children of indigent families (100 Years, 50). In 1917, members of the New York League organized the first network of volunteers in an outpatient department in New York City through the Children’s Clinic at Bellevue Hospital (100 Years, 38).
During the Great Depression, Junior Leagues ramped up efforts to care for infants, children and families in need. Junior Leagues established and operated milk stations and nurseries for the children of working women, and also ran soup kitchens (100 Years, 65). The Tampa Junior League supported and built out a tuberculosis clinic and treatment center known as the Pine Health Preventorium, through which it provided assistance to 150 children between 1933-34 (100 Years, 65).
Childhood immunization
In the wake of the 1952 polio epidemic, the Junior League played a critical role in promoting the use of the polio vaccine, discovered by Dr. Jonas Salk, and for advocating for the rehabilitation of polio patients. In recognition for its efforts, the League received the March of Dimes Service Award in 1957 (100 Years, 101).
In the 1990s, the Junior League played a pivotal role in advocating for children to have greater access to health care. In 1991, the League launched Don’t Wait to Vaccinate, a public awareness campaign focused on encouraging early childhood immunization (100 Years, 11). All 276 Leagues joined in to distribute information about the importance of vaccination, utilizing multilingual radio announcements, billboards, and handouts to spread the message. Along with these efforts, the Leagues tackled problem areas such as the lack of health clinics, insurance and language barriers that they recognized as factors in preventing wider-spread immunization (100 Years, 101). To eliminate these barriers, Leagues identified the issues that were most relevant to their own local populations and then deployed educational materials and collaborated with health agencies and other Leagues to create effective children’s health programs (100 Years, 161). The success of the Don’t Wait campaign garnered wide-spread attention – President George Bush called the program “a point of light” (100 Years, 166).
Public policy & advocacy
Despite the Women’s Suffrage movement fueling the establishment of a number of Junior Leagues, the official stance on engaging in public policy efforts for the Association in the early 20th century was to avoid any partisan issues and stay away from public arena (Volunteering, 97-98). The official position of the Association was to focus League energies towards their purpose of fostering interest among their members in the social, economic, educational, cultural and civic conditions of their own communities and to make efficient their volunteer service (this is quoted in Volunteering, 97 but is cited from AJLA Yearbooks https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/11/archival_objects/490625). The 1930s were rife with disagreements on this issue and eventually a shaky agreement evolved where Leagues could act on public issues locally (Volunteer, 100), however, this would continue to cause debate at League Annual Conferences. Early on Leagues began to form State Public Affairs Committees (SPAC) where Leagues within a state would cooperate on
PACs (Public Affairs Committees), SPACs (State Public Affairs Committees) and LICs (Legislative Issues Committees) are individual, apolitical Junior Leagues or coalitions of Junior Leagues within a state that form to educate and take action on public policy issues relevant to The Junior League Mission. Having begun to take shape in the 1930s, they are collectively governed by their member Leagues and the methods by which they operate vary by state, as do the issues chosen for study and action.[7]
Children’s theaters and puppetry
Junior Leagues played an important role in spreading children’s theater across the United States, both as a form of community service for League members and as way of introducing live-performance to children who might not have experienced it otherwise. The Junior League of Chicago was the first to stage children’s theater in 1921, and by 1929, it hosted “America’s first conference on children’s theater” (100 Years, 57). Following the conference, the Junior League of Chicago produced a national tour of The Blue Bird by Maurice Maeterlinck, which was staged in 15 cities and seen by 35,000 children.
While children’s theater started in Chicago, it quickly spread to Leagues across the country. By 1931, children’s plays were staged by 80 Leagues, and almost all of the 148 Leagues put on some form of children’s theater, marionette or puppet shows by 1938. The Junior League of Chicago even had a presence at the Chicago’s World Fair where they presented weekly shows over a four-month run (100 Years, 57).
As children’s theater grew into a national movement, it eventually evolved into other mediums like radio and television as well. The popular children’s television show Kukla, Fran and Ollie originated from puppet shows staged in Chicago by Burr Tillstrom and the Junior League in the 1940s (100 Years, 59). Fred Rogers’ daily television program The Children’s Corner was developed with help from the League, and Margaret Hamilton, who would go on to play the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, got her start in children’s theater as a member of the Junior League (100 Years, 60).
In addition to providing enriching entertainment, Leagues were also cognizant of the comfort that theater could bring to children during times of uncertainty. From 1944-45, Leagues put on 783 theater performances for nearly 370,000 children. And in the last year of the second World War, Leagues staged 36 live radio programs for children (100 Years, 87).
Museums
As was the case of children’s theatre, Junior Leagues were also instrumental in opening children’s museums to help expose children to science and technology, art and nature. By the end of the 1950s, Leagues across the country – from San Francisco to Jacksonville, Florida – established or entered into partnerships to open up museums for children in their own communities (100 Years, 102). The Denver Junior League was the first to open a children’s museum in 1945. Co-sponsored by the Denver Art Museum, the Denver Children’s Museum was such a success that its opening weekend brought in 10,000 visitors. Ultimately the museum served as a pilot project, both for the nation and for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (100 Years, 103).
Many other Leagues followed the example set by the Denver Children’s Museum. In 1950, the Junior League of Miami opened the Junior Museum of Miami, a small house that brought in more 2,000 children in its first three months and eventually evolved into the Miami Museum of Science. League members also mobilized to secure funds and necessary resources for children’s museums. In 1946, the Junior League of Charlotte stepped in to save a small but popular Children’s Nature Museum thought up by a local school teacher from financial ruin. The League staged a fashion show, barbershop quartet, and follies to raise funds, eventually securing enough resources to take over an abandoned day nursery for a nature center. By 1951, the League pitched in to help the museum move into a larger, $68,000 building (100 Years, 103).
In 1959, the Junior League of the Palm Beaches founded and incorporated the South Florida Science Museum, today known as the Cox Science Center and Aquarium. The museum opened in 1961, and in 1964 added a new wing housing the planetarium which was dedicated by and named after astronaut Buzz Aldrin.[8]
In addition to opening new museums, Leagues also worked with existing museums to support children-friendly sections. This was the case for the “Please Touch” Gallery at the Museum of the City of New York, which was staffed by volunteers and financed by the League (100 Years, 103).
Beyond the 1950s, the Leagues continued to meet the needs of communities around the country by opening children’s museums. In 1976, the Junior League of Pittsburgh contributed to the founding of the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, and in 1982, the Junior League of Chicago organized around fighting cutbacks in funding for the city’s public schools by helping to establish the Chicago Children’s Museum.[9]
In 1961, the Junior League of Chicago co-founded the Art Institute's volunteer Docent Program to revitalize and expand "programming for children."[10]
In 2017, the Association of Children’s Museums granted the 2017 ACM Great Friend to Kids Award to the Junior League in recognition of the organization’s contributions to advocating for children and their education and for their work developing children’s museums.
World War efforts
When World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, the Junior League of Montreal was the first to spring into action, initially by raising money for refugees. Almost all Leagues in the U.S. became involved by 1916, despite the nation’s stated neutrality which lasted until April 1917 (timeline). In addition to fundraising efforts, Leagues organized classes, including those focused on home nursing, as well as “preparedness” initiatives that were often organized in coordination with the Red Cross (100 Years, 39).
Perhaps even more so than the first world war, World War II galvanized Junior Leagues into action. In July 1940, as awareness spread that the United States would join the war, the AJLA called a special meeting to mobilize all Leagues in the United States to form central volunteer bureaus. This movement built off of capabilities already developed during the Depression that matched volunteers with agencies in need of help. In August 1941, all Leagues were sent a plan for organizing community volunteer initiatives entitled “A Central Volunteer Bureau in Defense," a plan for coordinating community volunteer efforts (100 Years, 80).
The Junior League of the Palm Beaches grew out of the World War II effort when 15 women established a Junior Welfare League in 1941, focused on supporting the WWII training bases that had opened in Palm Beach County. The women hosted canteen events for soldiers and worked with the Red Cross.[11]
In the United States and Canada, volunteer efforts for the war took on many different forms. Junior League members organized blood drives, worked for the Red Cross, volunteered in daycare centers, sold US Treasury War Bonds and Stamps, and performed for servicemen at the USO and other venues (100 Years, 86). Overseas, League Members volunteered with various organizations, including an 125-person unit of Junior League Members who served with the YMCA in France (100 Years, 80).
As volunteerism flourished, Junior League members also took on more official responsibilities in war efforts. It was through the work of Oveta Culp Hobby, member of the Houston Junior League and Director of the Women’s Interest Section of the War Department, that the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1941. After President Roosevelt signed the bill establishing the WAAC, Hobby was promoted to Major Hobby. As director, Major Hobby was charged with mobilizing and training women to be soldiers, and, “making available to the national defense the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of the nation" (100 Years, 84).
The WAACs under Major Hobby’s charge initially took on roles ranging from clerks and secretaries to aircraft warning observers. However, as the war progressed, WAACs assumed a broader range of primarily communication and clerical responsibilities overseas. By 1943, the initiative had garnered such success that the WAAC was elevated to Regular Army and afforded pay and privileges equal to what was granted to male soldiers (100 Years, 85).
Culinary arts
Junior League chapters have produced a number of cookbooks. The New York Junior League's cookbooks include New York Entertains (1974), I'll Taste Manhattan (1994), and the 120th Anniversary Cookbook (2021).[12] The Junior League of Augusta's cookbooks include the three volume, The Masters golf tournament themed Tea-Time at the Masters series: Tea-Time at the Masters (1977), Second Round: Tea-Time at the Masters (1988), and Par 3: Tea-Time at the Masters (2005).[13] Some book collectors have taken to collecting cookbooks from various chapters of the Junior League.
The Masters golf tournament features a concession stand that is well-known for certain menu items, including its pimento cheese sandwiches. The Par 3: Tea-Time at the Masters includes a recipe for "Four-Cheese Pimento Sandwiches" which is said to resemble the ones served at The Masters.[14]
Skills development
Members of The Junior League obtain knowledge, skills, and experiences in areas such as: Leadership, Organizational development, Community needs assessment, Mentoring, Advocacy, Communications, Fund development, Strategic planning, Negotiation, Consensus-building, and Networking.
Development
Mission
"The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable."
Chartered Leagues
As of 2023 there are 296 Leagues of 140,000 women in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Kenya.[15] including but not limited to:
The Junior League is an all-women organization. In 1996, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Gate publicized that a male hairdresser named Clark Clementsen tried to join the League after his "high society clients" recommended him, but was denied membership and retained an attorney to argue his case at a meeting of AJLI representatives in NYC. For him, members had "been trained to be organized, articulate community leaders, and it showed...no men's organization even came close."[30][31][32][33]
Fundraisers and advocacy
The Junior League has a full calendar year of members-only, family-friendly, and public events at their clubhouses and local venues such as hotels. Notable JL events raising money for partner community organizations related to foster children, domestic violence, human trafficking, illiteracy, city beautification, and other issues include, but are not limited to:
Annual Winter Ball—the Junior League's largest fundraiser since 1952, where League awards are given to honor outstanding members and a public figure, such as Mary J. Blige (2011).[34][35][36] Non-member dinner tickets start at $500+.
The New York Junior League used to have a thrift shop where proceeds went to the community organizations.
Other JL initiatives include its contributions to the passage of the Clean Water Act, free school lunch campaign, “Don’t Wait to Vaccinate” campaign, and The Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen initiative, which combats childhood obesity and educates families on health and nutrition.[43]
She's the Man (2006 film) Viola and Olivia are seen taking part in a Junior League carnival.
The Help (2009) book and The Help (2011 film)—the film stars Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard in the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi
The Devil in the Junior League—2006 novel written by a former Junior Leaguer[46][47] originally set to star Jennifer Garner in the film version.[48]
Gilmore Girls TV series character Lorelai Gilmore stated she wore an inappropriate T-Shirt to the Junior League Spring Tea. In another episode, she tells her mother, Emily Gilmore, not to encourage her daughter, Rory Gilmore, to join the league.[49]
In Gossip Girl TV Season 1, Episode 10 "Hi, Society," character Serena van der Woodsen questions her mother's introduction for her society debut, "Serena van der Woodsen wants to work for the Junior League and have two children?"
Mad Men TV series character Betty Draper is a member of the Junior League of Tarrytown.
Reba TV Season 1, Episode 1, character Reba talks about being kicked out of the Junior League because her teenage daughter is pregnant.
Carrie Underwood's song "Church Bells" includes the lyrics "Jenny was hosting Junior League parties and havin' dinner at the country club."
Related Research Articles
B'nai B'rith International is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel and combating antisemitism and other forms of bigotry.
Edward Roland Noel "Bunny" Harriman was an American financier and philanthropist.
Mary Williamson Averell Harriman was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father introduced Harriman to the railroad business. After Harriman's death, his wife was left with between $70 and $100 million. She became dedicated to philanthropy, donating the land that became Harriman State Park and largely funding the development of the controversial Eugenics Record Office. Averell had several children; her son, W. Averell Harriman became governor of New York and her daughter Mary Harriman Rumsey founded the Junior League.
A debutante, also spelled débutante, or deb is a young woman of aristocratic or upper-class family background who has reached maturity and is presented to society at a formal "debut" or possibly debutante ball. Originally, the term indicated that the woman was old enough to be married, and one purpose of her "coming out" was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select circle.
The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942, and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943. Its first director was Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. The WAC was disbanded on 20 October 1978, and all WAC units were integrated with male units.
Glenda Evans Hood is an American politician, who was Secretary of State of Florida, from 2003 to 2005, and the first woman to serve as Mayor of Orlando (1992–2003). She is a member of the Republican Party.
Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.
The Fresh Air Fund is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit agency founded in 1877. At sleep-away camps in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, visiting volunteer host families along the East Coast in NYC-based programs, children get to have new experiences, learn new skills and gain new perspectives. Fresh Air children also participate in year-round leadership, career exploration and educational programs. The Fresh Air Fund has served more than 1.8 million children since its founding.
The Storm King School (SKS) is an independent coeducational boarding and day school in the U.S. state of New York. Established in 1867, it is one of New York's oldest boarding schools. It is a college preparatory school for students in grades 8 to post-graduate, with an enrollment of 185 and 37 faculty living on or near campus through the year.
Kidspace Children's Museum is a children's museum in Pasadena, California. It is located next to the Rose Bowl, in the former Fannie E. Morrison Horticultural Center.
The African-American upper class, sometimes referred to as the black upper class, the black upper middle class or black elite, is a social class that consists of African-American individuals who have high disposable incomes and high net worth. The group includes highly paid white-collar professionals such as academics, engineers, lawyers, accountants, doctors, politicians, business executives, venture capitalists, CEOs, celebrities, entertainers, entrepreneurs and heirs.
Mary Harriman Rumsey was an American social activist and government official. She was the founder of The Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, later known as the Junior League of the City of New York of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc, and served as Chair of the Consumer Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration. Mary was the daughter of railroad magnate E.H. Harriman and sister to W. Averell Harriman, former New York State Governor and United States Diplomat. In 2015 she was posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
Helena Rebecca Hellwig Pouch was an American tennis player and served as the 18th President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Charles Cary Rumsey was an American sculptor and an eight-goal polo player.
Pioneers, a Volunteer Network, founded and more commonly known as the Telephone Pioneers of America, is a non-profit charitable organization based in Denver, Colorado in the United States. The association was organized in Boston in November 1911 by 246 pioneers active in the early days of telephony, including Alexander Graham Bell who received membership card No. 1. The first elected president was Theodore N. Vail, president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T).
Ruth Johnson Colvin was an American philanthropist who was the founder of the non-profit organization Literacy Volunteers of America, now called ProLiteracy Worldwide in Syracuse, New York, in 1962. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in December 2006.
The Junior League of Boston is a women’s service organization that has worked to improve the communities of the greater Boston area since the beginning of the 20th century. Founded in 1906, it was the second Junior League in the world. The Boston League currently has over 800 members who together provide over 16,000 service hours each year. It is a member of the Association of Junior Leagues International.
Colleen S. Willoughby is an American philanthropist and the founder and former president of the Washington Women's Foundation, and the director of Global Women Partners in Philanthropy.
Womankind, formerly known as the New York Asian Women's Centre (NYAWC), was founded in 1982 by a group of volunteers led by Pat Eng. In 2017, the NYAWC changed its name to Womankind. It is a non-profit organization which aims to empower Asian survivors of gender based violence. Womankind was initially a community awareness program designed to educate families about domestic violence in Chinatown, and then developed into a 24-hour multilingual hotline that now includes 18 different Asian languages and dialects. Womankind also provides Asian immigrant women confidential services including an emergency refuge, shelter services, crisis counseling, 24-hour online free multilingual hotline, welfare promotion, support groups, parenting workshops, children's services, volunteer training, community education, and some English courses. Each year, the organization receives over 3,000 hotline calls.
Frances Keegan Marquis was an American women's army captain, World War II veteran, and feminist activist. In 1943, she became the first commander of a women's expeditionary force, the 149th WAAC Post Headquarters Company, which served in General Eisenhower's North African headquarters. Before her military service, she held management posts in women's organizations; afterwards, she did volunteer work for women's groups, including serving as a United Nations observer for Altrusa International.
↑ "Expanding the Museum's Impact". Learn with Us. The Art Institute Chicago. Archived from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2021. Volunteerism surged in the United States in the postwar period […] In this context, the Art Institute's [...] to create the museum's Docent Program in 1961 with the Junior League of Chicago as a means of revitalizing and expanding programming for children
↑ "Our History". Junior League of the Palm Beaches. 2024-08-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
