The Junior League was back to business as usual in many ways during the 1980s. Mary Harriman would have felt at home at the 1980 Annual Conference in Toronto as delegates gathered to consider the urban future and the challenges facing volunteers. The issues being discussed echoed the conversations of the earliest days of the League, but this time over…
Spousal abuse was just beginning to be identified as a major social problem in the 1970s when the Junior League of Bronxville started working with the county probation department to develop court assistance programs for abused wives (and husbands). With no federal legislation addressing the issue of spousal abuse, JLB’s work in one of the most affluent counties in the…
Serving as the link among the Junior Leagues within Canada, the Federation promoted a strong national presence in Canada and worked to increase The League’s international impact. CFJL consists of the five Junior Leagues located in Halifax, Toronto, Hamilton-Burlington, Calgary, and Edmonton.
Despite this honor, the Junior League of Grand Rapids member is perhaps most remembered for her work in breast cancer awareness as well as her support for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Pro-choice on abortion, she also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long-running battle with alcoholism in the 1970s.
Working with the Association and the University of Minnesota, the Junior League of Minneapolis sponsored a three-day summit bringing together more than 700 delegates from 30 states and Canada. More than 50 national volunteer organizations and hundreds of local and state groups were represented.
Long before she won a Pulitzer Prize, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, or had her home in Jackson, Mississippi declared a National Historic Landmark and opened to the public as a museum, Welty wrote for the Junior League of Jackson’s volunteer news magazine. Welty was honored by the National Womens Hall of Fame in 2000. Read her bio on NWHoF
Urban problems became a focus again, particularly as they affected women and the young. The League, working with the National Commission on Crime and Delinquency and the Justice Department, launched IMPACT, a multi-faceted effort focusing on delinquency prevention and rehabilitation, court reform, prisons’ self-help programs, runaway shelter and return services, rape prevention, and community services.
This proposed amendment to the United States Constitution was designed to guarantee equal rights for women. While approved by the House and the Senate, it failed to be ratified by 38 states within the seven years provided by the legislation.
