Mexico City becomes the 112th Junior League
Expanding The League’s international footprint, Mexico City entered the Association and quickly became one of its most influential Leagues.
1930s: The Depression, Voluntarism’s Finest Hour
Women responded with energy and dignity to the economic hardships of the Depression, but it was the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 that gave them greater political participation. Social welfare, which had been the heart of the Junior league and other women’s organizations for decades, became the focus of New Deal policies. “An exceptional group of women with…
The League’s Ruth Sears Baker Pratt is elected to Congress
This Junior League of the City of New York member became the first.
The stock market crashes, signaling the onset of the Great Depression
Learn more about women’s participation in the workforce by visiting the online exhibit at the National Women’s History Museum, A History of Women in Industry: The Depression and World War II (1930-1945).
The Junior League Magazine goes on sale on newsstands as a “Journal of Youthful Opinion”
Plump with ads and with a typical issue running at more than 100 pages, circulation increased to 24,000 by 1931. Content included fiction, poetry, and articles by League members on topics ranging from nursery schools and travel, to trends in education and news from the Leagues.
The first Junior League cookbook is published
The Junior League of Dallas publishes a “Junior League Cook Book” and begins a tradition of fundraising through cookbook publishing.
The League continues to expand
Two years after the founding of AJLA, there were 63 approved Leagues and dozens of other women’s service organizations applying for League membership.
With a performance of Alice in Wonderland, the Junior League of Chicago is credited with the formation of the first formal children’s “headline”: theater program in the U.S.
Children’s theaters and other arts programs became a focus for many Leagues in the 1920s and 1930s. Eventually, more than 100 League children’s theaters were established.
The Association of Junior Leagues of America (AJLA) is founded, giving The League a national voice
Banding together, 30 individual Junior Leagues created an umbrella organization to provide professional support to the Leagues. Dorothy Whitney Straight became the Association’s first President.