The Junior League, one of the oldest, largest, and most effective women’s volunteer organizations in the world, has had a number of members who have become household names through their professional and personal pursuits since we were founded in 1901. Below is just a sampling of famous Junior League women.
CAROL JENKINS BARNETT, Junior League of Greater Lakeland President, Publix Super Markets Charities; Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy “Champion for Literacy” award winner (2017); Florida Women’s Hall of Fame inductee (2016); United Way Women’s Leadership Council Women in Philanthropy award (2015)
SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK, Junior League of Palo Alto Child actress; delegate to the United Nations; U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and the Czech and Slovak Republics
BARBARA BUSH, Junior League of Houston First Lady; literacy activist, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy
LAURA BUSH, Junior League of Dallas First Lady; literacy activist, Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries
JULIA MCWILLIAMS CHILD, Junior League of Pasadena Chef; author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking
SARAH PALFREY COOKE DANZIG, Junior League of the City of New York Professional tennis player; two-time Wimbledon champion
BETTY FORD, Junior League of Grand Rapids First Lady; substance abuse prevention activist
MARGARET HAMILTON, Junior League of Cleveland Actress, children’s and animal welfare advocate, “The Wicked Witch of the West”, began her professional career in children’s theatre as a Junior League member.
KATHARINE HEPBURN, Junior League of Hartford 4-time U.S. Academy Award-winning actress (1934, 68, 69, 82); 3-time British Academy Award recipient (1969, 83); women’s issues activist
OVETA CULP HOBBY, Junior League of Houston First Commander of Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (1941-45); first U.S. Secretary of Health, Education & Welfare (1953-55) in President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Administration
MARTHA RIVERS INGRAM, Junior League of Nashville Chairman of Ingram Industries, Chairman of Vanderbilt University Board of Trust
MARY PILLSBURY LORD, Junior League of Minneapolis, MN & New York City U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, succeeding Eleanor Roosevelt
VI LYLES, Junior League of Charlotte 59th Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina since 2017, Former Member of Charlotte City Council
SARAH DUKES MCKAY, Junior League of Greater Lakeland Philanthropist. First woman chairman of the board of directors for Lakeland Regional Health. First woman president of the Florida Southern College Board of Trustees
RICKYE MCKOY-MITCHELL, Junior League of Charlotte District Court Judge for Mecklenburg County for more than 24 years
MARILYN CARLSON NELSON, Junior League of Minneapolis Chair and former CEO of Carlson Companies, the first major North American travel company to sign the ECPAT international code of conduct regarding the sexual exploitation of children (2002); Chair by presidential appointment, National Women’s Business Council (2002-2005); Author of How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership
RUTH ROWLANDS NICHOLS, Junior League of New York Female aviation pioneer who held simultaneous world records for speed, altitude and distance; was an early advocate for including women in the NASA space program
SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, Junior League of Phoenix First woman nominated and, subsequently, the first woman confirmed to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, where she served from 1981 to 2006. Prior to her tenure on the Court, she was a judge and an elected official in Arizona, serving as the first female majority leader of a state senate as the Republican leader in the Arizona Senate
NANCY REAGAN, Junior League of Los Angeles First Lady; substance abuse prevention activist
ELIZABETH REDENBAUGH, Junior League of Wilmington, North Carolina 2011 Profile in Courage Award from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT (pictured), Junior League of the City of New York First Lady; social reformer; humanitarian; author. As the first U.S. Delegate to the United Nations, she chaired the Human Rights Commission during the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948
MARY HARRIMAN RUMSEY, Junior League of the City of New York Founder of The Junior League in 1901; first defender of consumer rights as Chair of the Consumers’ Advisory Board of the National Resource Administration in President Franklin Roosevelt’s Administration, 1933
PHYLLIS STEWART SCHLAFLY, Junior League of St. Louis American constitutional lawyer and conservative activist.
EUDORA WELTY, Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi Author; won a Pulitzer Prize for The Optimist’s Daughter, 1972
HELEN WILLS, Junior League of San Francisco Professional tennis player; winner of 31 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic medals
GAYLE WILSON, Junior League of San Diego The former First Lady of California was instrumental in writing legislation that created the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), a merit-based program serving over 600 high school students, for which she is Board Chair Emerita
PAMELA WILLEFORD, Junior League of Austin Former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Luxembourg
Elected to Government
Canadian Parliament
• Florence Bird – Canadian Parliament 1978-1983, Winnipeg, MB
• Margaret McTavish Konantz, Canadian Parliament 1964-1968, Winnipeg, MB
• Bobbie Sparrow, Canadian Parliament 1984-1988, Calgary, AB
Canadian Provincial Appointment
• Lois Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, 2015-present, Calgary, AB
U.S. Congress
• Judy Biggert, U.S. House of Representatives, 1998-2013, Chicago, IL
• Frances P. Bolton, U.S. House of Representatives, 1940-1969, Cleveland, OH
• Susan Brooks, U.S. House of Representatives 2013-present, Indianapolis, IN
• Jennifer Dunn, U.S. House of Representatives, 1992-2004, Seattle, WA
• Anna G. Eshoo, U.S. House of Representatives, 1992-present, Palo Alto, CA
• Mary E. Pruett Farrington, U.S. House of Representatives, 1954-1956, Honolulu, HI
• Tillie K. Fowler, U.S. House of Representatives, 1992-2000, Jacksonville, FL
• Isabella Selmes Greenway, U.S. House of Representatives, 1933-1936, The City of New York
• Kay R. Hagan, Senate, 2008-2015, Greensboro, NC
• Carolyn Maloney, U.S. House of Representatives, 1992-present, The City of New York
• Lynn Martin, U.S. House of Representatives, 1981-1985; U.S. Secretary of Labor 1991-93, Rockford, IL
• Doris Matsui, U.S. House of Representatives, 2005-present, Sacramento, CA
• Ruth Sears Baker Pratt, U.S. House of Representatives, 1929-1933, The City of New York
• Margaret Chase Smith, elected in 1940 to U.S. Senate; elected in 1940 to U.S. House of Representatives; first woman to serve in both houses of Congress, Bangor, ME
State Government (U.S.)
• Martha Bedell Alexander, North Carolina House of Representatives,1992-2000, Charlotte, NC
• Betsey Bayless,Arizona 16th Secretary of State, 1997-2002, Phoenix, AZ
• Roseann Knauer Bentley, Missouri State Senator, 1995-2002, Springfield, MO
• Mary O. Donohue, New York State Lt. Governor, 1999-2006, Troy, NY
• Beth Halteman Harwell, Tennessee General Assembly Member,1988-present, Speaker of the House, 2011, Nashville, TN
• Kerry Healey, Massachusetts State Lt. Governor, 2003-2007, Boston, MA
• Alyson l. Huber, California State Assemblymember,2008-present, Sacramento, CA
• Diane Patrick, Texas House of Representatives, 2007-Present, Arlington, TX
• Betty Sims, Missouri State Senator, 1995-2002, St. Louis, MO
• Emily Anne Staples Tuttle, Minnesota State Senate, 1977-1980, Minneapolis, MN
