Junior League

The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, voluntarism nonprofit with 291 Junior League chapters in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom, as one of the oldest and largest of its kind.

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
PredecessorJunior League for the Promotion of the Settlement Movement,
New York Junior League
Formation1901 (1901)
New York, NY, U.S.
FounderMary Harriman Rumsey
TypePrivate, 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Registration no.13-1656639
Headquarters80 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
Membership
140,000 women
Key people
Dorothy Payne Whitney (First President, AJLI)
Laurel Lee-Alexander (President)
Subsidiaries291 Junior League chapters
Revenue
$7,195,946 (FY 2019)[1]
Expenses$7,035,466 (FY 2019)[1] inc. direct program support as all members serve as unpaid volunteers
Websiteajli.org

Founded in 1901 in New York City by Barnard College debutante Mary Harriman Rumsey, the Junior League is an educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society.

Members accomplish this by developing civic leadership skills, fundraising, and volunteering on JL committees to support partner community organizations related to foster children, domestic violence, human trafficking, illiteracy, city beautification, and other issues.

History
Astor House, clubhouse owned by the New York Junior League (the first League), Upper East Side

The first Junior League was founded in 1901 in New York City as the Junior League for the Promotion of the Settlement Movement. It is now known as the New York Junior League (NYJL). Its founder was then 19-year-old Barnard College student and debutante Mary Harriman Rumsey, sister of future Governor of New York W. Averell Harriman and daughter of railroad executive Edward H. Harriman.[2][3]

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. Eleanor Roosevelt was an early member of the NYJL, joining in 1903 when she was 19 years old.[3]

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.[3][4] Marymount Manhattan College currently owns the building.[4] 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.[3]

The New York Junior League was soon emulated: by 1921, thirty Leagues joined to form the national association. In 1921—after serving as New York City's Junior League president from 1907 to 1910—Dorothy Payne Whitney became the first president of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc., operating as the umbrella organization for all Junior Leagues worldwide.

Women's organization

The League is an all-women organization. In 1996 a man named Clark Clementsen tried to join the League but was denied membership.[5]

Development

Mission

"The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable."

Chartered Leagues

As of 2019 there are 291 Leagues of 140,000 women in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the UK,[6] including but not limited to:

Canada

  • Junior League of Montreal—the first League outside of the U.S.
  • Junior League of Toronto
  • Junior League of Hamilton-Burlington

Massachusetts

Mississippi

  • Junior League of Jackson—featured in The Help book and film

New York

  • Junior League of Buffalo
  • New York Junior League—the first league

Ohio

  • Junior League of Akron
  • Junior League of Cleveland
  • Junior League of Cincinnati
  • Junior League of Columbus
  • Junior League of Dayton
  • Junior League of Toledo

Utah

UK

  • Junior League of London

Membership

Prospective

Prospects must attend orientation at their chapter's clubhouse before applying for membership. The application requires biographical data, two short essay questions, two recommendation letters (in some chapters), and a $100 application fee.

Provisional

Once admitted, candidates must register for the $150 provisional course where they are trained on the organizations's history and professional volunteerism over four clubhouse sessions, an off-site session, a community project, a personal development session, and optional social events with their cohort of 15-20 women out of 150 total new class members each fall and spring semester.

Active

Following graduation from provisional course training, members pay annual dues of approximately $437+ to become Active members and serve on one of four committees as unpaid volunteers:

  • Communities (volunteering with partner community organizations)
  • Fundraising (event planning)
  • Membership Development
  • Communications (marketing and PR)

They're also required to attend a percentage of clubhouse meetings and at least one free personal development session a year. Fundraising events are optional for members not on the fundraising committee, with discounted tickets available to members.

Sustainer and Sustainer Emeritus

Requirements for Active and Sustainer status vary by League, but after about 20 years of membership, members reach Sustainer status, followed by an option of Sustainer Emeritus status for members aged 80 years or older.

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:

The New York Junior League also has a thrift shop whose proceeds go 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.[16]

Notable League members and alums

As of 2020, five First Ladies of the U.S. have been Junior League members.

Politics

Business

Entertainment, media, literature, and fashion

Military and government

  • Jeannie Deakyne—Army Officer and Bronze Star Medal recipient
  • Cornelia Fort—first female pilot in American history to die on active duty
  • Oveta Culp Hobby—first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps
  • Deborah Taylor Tate—FCC Commissioner

Nonprofit and philanthropy

Sports

Notes
  1. "AJLI FY 2018-2019 Financial Statement" (PDF). AJLI. 2019.
  2. Mitchell, Donn (2008). "Debutantes of the World: Unite! The Irrespressible Mary Harriman". The Anglican Examiner Presents The New York Anglicans: Twenty Who Shaped the Twentieth Century. The Anglican Examiner. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. "The New York Junior League Throughout the Years". The New York Junior League. 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  4. Gray, Christopher (5 December 1999). "Streetscapes/Readers' Questions; Junior League, Garden Co-op and Pumpkin House". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  5. Prodis, Julia (January 28, 1996). "Man Battles Junior League Over Policy of Admitting Only Women". Los Angeles Times.
  6. 2016, 2009. "The Association of Junior Leagues International Civic Leadership Development for Women". www.ajli.org. Retrieved 2016-06-20.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. "New York Junior League's 59th Annual Winter Ball". Hamptons.com. February 21, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  8. Maggie Maloney (March 8, 2018). "Inside the New York Junior League's 66th Annual Winter Ball". Town & Country. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  9. "Inside The New York Junior League's 63rd Annual Winter Ball". Guest of a Guest. March 2, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  10. Stephanie Cohen (December 26, 2010). "Glove affair". New York Post. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  11. "What's a Deb to Do in Hard Times? Go to the Ball?". New York Times. December 16, 1990. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  12. "Junior League Will Introduce. 62 Debutantes". New York Times. September 29, 1964. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  13. "Junior League Debutante Ball Held at the Plaza; Thanksgiving Week Parties Begin With Gala Benefit". New York Times. November 26, 1959. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  14. Mollie Chen (May 2, 2002). "Welcome to the Ball". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  15. "New York Junior League Events". New York Junior League. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  16. "AJLI: WHAT WE DO". AJLI. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  17. "Ethma Ewing Odum, March 22, 2009". Alexandria Town Talk. Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
  18. http://www.kerristrug.info/charities/
  19. Mia Geiger (October 12, 2006). "Ex-Junior Leaguer knows her characters". Denver Post. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  20. Jeannie Kever (September 10, 2006). "Texas writer takes on the Junior League". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  21. "Jennifer Garner Is the Devil in the Junior League". Movie Web. February 13, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
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