HISTORY OF THE JUNIOR LEAGUE

Mary Harriman established The Junior League by founding the first chapter in New York City in 1901. As a young debutante, she was deeply affected by the adverse conditions immigrants faced living on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. She harnessed the women in her social group to bring change through volunteerism. 

Alongside 80 other young women, the 19-year-old identified ways to improve the city’s social conditions. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was an early member, joining the New York League in 1903. The group’s grassroots efforts proved inspirational and quickly spread across the country. In 1921, the Association of Junior Leagues was formed to provide an umbrella of strategic and administrative support to the fast-growing organization. As a result, there are now 296 Junior Leagues with 111,000 members worldwide. 

HISTORY OF THE LEAGUE OF EASTERN FAIRFIELD COUNTY (JLEFC)

The Junior League of Eastern County, formerly known as The Junior League of Bridgeport, was founded by Mary Hincks. Mary served as the First President in 1920 with an initial membership of 47 like-minded women interested in driving social change. By the early 30s, the League had 170 active members. JLEFC’s primary focus is addressing social, economic, and education issues that impact the underprivileged and underserved in our local communities. For many years, much of the volunteerism and projects were devoted to Greater Bridgeport. In 1972, the league’s name was changed to The Junior League of Greater Bridgeport to align with its focus. In 1984, the name changed to The Junior League of Eastern Fairfield County to reflect the league’s reach to other towns, including Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Newtown, Redding, Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull, Weston, and Westport.

The evolution of our programs was influenced by the changing role of women in our community and the rise of the two-parent working family, with the majority of our active membership today working full-time. Our earlier approach was to identify a community need, seed and establish it, and then hand off the project to the community group. As membership demographics advanced, the League became an active participant and partner in numerous existing community projects, contributing volunteer hours and assisting with grants. “Done In A Day” events and committing to regular participation in select community partners’ core activities were adopted. 

A TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIES

In 1920, the league’s primary focus was on Bridgeport Hospital and the establishment of Occupational Therapy (OT) services. The Junior League funded an OT room and served on several committees at the hospital. This initiative continued for the next two decades and included the expansion of the OT department and additional therapists in 1928. The program eventually became what is now known as the Ahlbin Centers for Rehabilitation Medicine in Bridgeport.

During the Second World War, all resources were directed to support war efforts.  Soon after the war ended, a cancer detection center was opened and was partially funded by the League. This program transitioned over to the community in 1950. 

In the 1950s, the League focused most of its efforts on the Wonder Workshop program, the genesis for the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport. We were also involved with the Beardsley Park Zoo project in the 1960s, supporting the creation of a Seal Pool and establishing a docent program.

Throughout the 60s, JLEFC identified children’s issues as a critical mission. “Art Goes to School,” a project supporting children’s art launched as a pilot for fifth graders in Fairfield schools in 1961, and was adopted into Bridgeport’s school curriculum two years later. Project YOU (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) was developed in 1963, earning a nomination for a Lane Bryant Award the following year, and was featured in LIFE magazine. By the end of the 60s, it was known as the School Volunteer Association of Bridgeport, which existed for the next 50 years. In 1972, the School Volunteer Association took over responsibility for the “Art Goes to School” program.

In the 80s, literacy continued to be an important part of the league’s mission, and together with education on drug abuse became a core initiative. Parent education talks and the creation and distribution of educational materials were made available to the community. Throughout the 1980s, the league also increased its reach to health, nutrition, and fitness. Programs such as Children’s Healthy Hearts and Me-Ology offered teacher training and materials for prevention. 160 teachers were trained and over 12,000 students were served through the Me-Ology program alone.

The mid-90s marked a new focus on parenting skills and education. Our signature project was the Parent Support Center at Family Matters in Bridgeport’s Calvary Episcopal Church. The league helped add a playground, fill their food pantry and clothing closet. The JLEFC devoted countless hours over the decade to the Bridgeport Child Care Center due to the emergent need for affordable childcare. Over the decade, the league partnered with the YMCA and Kaboom to build an onsite state-of-the-art playground. Unfortunately, state funding for construction was frozen, and the Child Care Center project was disbanded in 2011. 

This past decade, the JLEFC has focused on nutrition and literacy. League members served dinners and supported families through partnerships with the United Church and the local Ys. We currently support Operation Hope by providing prepared meals every month. We also adopted Thomas Hooker School in Bridgeport and participate in an array of services, from building gardens to read-alouds and tutoring. Our newest, ongoing collaboration is for the Burroughs Community Center ‘Our Woven Community’ program, which assists local resettled refugee women to become economically self-sufficient. 

In 2018, the league established Volunteer-A-Thon, a 26.2-hour volunteer marathon where league members, friends, and family undertake various projects for many of our community partners. This year, the League undertook projects for 12 community partners in Fairfield, Bridgeport, and Norwalk, and contributed 187 volunteer hours.

Fundraising plays a key role in our work as we raise funding for our signature projects and programs. In addition to funding our service commitments and responding to ad-hoc community needs, we also provide grants to community partners. 

Like our community support efforts, our fundraising activities have evolved over time. In the past, money was raised through ticketed events such as galas and concerts like the Children’s Concert series, a Decorators Showhouse, a celebrity showhouse at the Burr Homestead, and an annual Arts Show. The Arts Show continued to be a major fundraiser for the league until it was discontinued in 2015.

In 2019, the league took over The Enchanted Castle (an imagined fairy tale experience for young children) from the Bridgeport Hospital Auxiliary Group. The Enchanted castle is now our signature event and main, annual fundraiser every October, raising funds to support our programs all throughout the year.