Junior League


The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. 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.
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

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. 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.
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.
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. Marymount Manhattan College currently owns the building. In 1950 the NYJL clubhouse moved to the former Vincent Astor townhouse at 130 East 80th Street, where it remains as of 2020.
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.

Development

Mission

"The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. 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, including but not limited to:
Canada
Massachusetts
Mississippi
New York
Ohio
Utah
UK

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, 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:
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.

Notable League members and alums

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