The Evolution of the Junior League of Washington, Part 1

Guest post by Bonnie Louque 

Over the course of its 105-year history, the Junior League of Washington (JLW) has channeled its efforts in supporting the community across a wide range of social issues. Founder and lifelong member of the JLW, Miss Elizabeth Noyes, established the organization with a group of friends in 1912 with an interest in assisting with children’s welfare, serving the helpless and sick, and raising money to support their charitable efforts. While the focus of the organization has fluctuated over the years to best meet community needs – ranging from children’s health initially to literacy at present – JLW has always maintained a strong commitment to supporting the community in lasting and meaningful ways.

In the period following 1912 and the founding of JLW, the overarching Junior League movement was shifting its focus from working with settlement houses to broader social, health, and education issues affecting communities across the nation. JLW continued to expand on its efforts to support children’s health, and by 1926, for example, had given $6,000 to the JLW Convalescent Ward at Children’s Hospital. Just three years later, the League had opened its own Social Services Department at the hospital and paid the salary and purchased a car for a dedicated social worker.

A variety of fundraising and social events in the 1920s, such as the international Junior League Cabaret Ball, afforded JLW the opportunity to raise awareness about critical issues facing the city, as well as to raise funds to contribute back to the community.

JLW continued to grow in membership and impact throughout the 1930s and 1940s, with an increasing role in hospital work. In 1935, the League had trained volunteers at Children’s, Columbia, Garfield, Emergency, and Providence Hospitals, with additional social workers added to the payroll. The organization also sought opportunities to target unemployment; the 1931 “Sewing Room Project” trained and paid more than 200 unemployed women to sew garments to sell to the needy at cost.

By 1940, the attention of the League shifted to the war effort, though work continued in support of child welfare and health. Members volunteered to staff Travelers Aid Offices, trained to watch aircrafts, and heavily supported the Red Cross “Gray Ladies,” who provided non-medical care such as hospital organization, ethics, psychiatry, and occupational therapy. The affectionate term Gray Lady was coined by the wounded soldiers because of the distinctive hospital corps’ gray uniform with white collar and cuffs the volunteers wore.

Fundraising efforts such as the Horse Show, which earned $6,000 in 1941, in addition to the JLW library and thrift shop, brought meaningful funds back into its aid programs. In 1943, the Association of Junior Leagues of America (AJLA), a group of more than thirty Junior League chapters formed to offer professional support, offered a seminar on “How to Adjust Your League Program to War Times.” JLW subsequently advocated that its members increase their knowledge and activism on national and global issues.

Learn more about the League’s history of impact in part 2 of this series, which will be published tomorrow.