One of the original members of the Junior League of the City of New York, Eleanor Roosevelt became the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, holding the post from 1933 to 1945 during her husband’s four terms in office. Her impact on public policy would last for nearly two more decades, until her death in 1962.
Isabella Selmes Greenway, a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and former New York League member, became the first woman.
The League created a Welfare Bureau and, a year later, formulated a five-point emergency welfare policy in response to “unprecedented economic and social problems.”
One of the Junior League of Tampa’s first community projects after becoming a League in 1928 was to partially fund a tuberculosis clinic and treatment center. By 1931, as the Depression deepened, JLT had assumed total support for the center, including building an addition. In 1933-34, members logged over 8,000 service hours at the center, helping to care for nearly…
Leagues in Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke, and Lynchburg banded together to evaluate the state of child welfare in Virginia. This first statewide action by Leagues is the predecessor to today’s SPACs (State Public Affairs Committees), which operate in California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio.
One hundred and fourteen independent Leagues assembled for the 1930 Annual Conference in New York City. A key focus was developing and implementing League initiatives to address the economic uncertainty in their communities.
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…
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).
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.
