1980s: A Powerful Voice for Social Change

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 700 delegates from nearly 250 Leagues shared ideas and ideals and pondered the role the Leagues should play in improving their communities.

What could the League do to stop the decay of residential neighborhoods and ensure a better education for all children? How could Leagues engage local governments to work with volunteers to make the most of diminishing tax dollars? And what voice could the Junior League have in the decisions to be made about the cities?

“…we are now a prime mover within the voluntary sector, leading the way into new areas of concern and raising new issues…a more dynamic and daring organization, willing to risk more and share more, to work with more partners.” -Carole P. Hart, Association President, 1984-1986