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On April 10, 1922, the Junior League of Nashville (JLN) began a century of service that has expanded leadership opportunities for women and changed Nashville for the better.
On that day, Cornelia Keeble Ewing, along with 45 enthusiastic and capable women, chartered JLN with the belief that women with energy and passion can lead their communities in change. A simple idea today, but radical then. One hundred years later, their powerful vision lives on in the mission of the Junior League as an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
Decade after decade, the service and advocacy of Junior League volunteers not only has helped bring about many services in our city but has also shaped the way people think about serving their local communities.The Junior League provided a venue for women to move beyond the limitations that society placed on them and gain training and skills to address pressing social issues impacting women and children.
CHAMPIONS FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH
The Junior League of Nashville’s leadership in children’s health dates back to 1923, when the Junior League Home for Crippled Children opened in a small house on Ninth Avenue and Monroe Street. The Home provided free convalescent and rehabilitative medical care for children with polio and other diseases.
Despite having no experience running a medical care facility and the ongoing concerns of the epidemic’s contagion, League volunteers stepped up to address a need that wasn’t being met and acted despite the odds. Junior League volunteers created a home-like environment and handled every aspect of care—from administration to transportation, nursing, entertainment, sewing, gardening, and cooking.
To support the Home financially, the League conceived the idea of selling ads in a special edition of the Nashville Banner. The Tennessean later became involved, and JLN partnered with the Shriners from Al Menah Temple to conduct its Palm Sunday Paper Sale across 41 counties in Tennessee for many years. This successful fundraiser enabled the League to move the Home in 1956 to a newly built location at 2400 White Ave. In 1960, the Home became among the first facility of its kind in the South to fully integrate. (Black patients had been seen for years in the outpatient clinic, but policy changes now allowed for inpatient admissions.) In 1962, it became accredited by the Joint Commission of the Hospital Association.
In 1971, League leaders moved the Home to Vanderbilt to create the beginnings of what has now become Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Through the years, the League’s gifts have provided more than $17 million for many crucial Children’s Hospital programs, including its Child Life Program, Sickle Cell Disease and Asthma Program, Family Resource Center, Center for Advanced Maternal Fetal Care, and more. JLN also stepped up to provide capital to help build the current freestanding hospital that opened in 2004 and continues to partner with Children’s Hospital.
To this day, Junior League volunteers host special events for patients and families and spend time with patients in the hospital playrooms and at the bedside, whether it’s to play a board game or offer companionship.
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RESPONDING TO EVOLVING COMMUNITY NEEDS
In the 1930s, JLN began to extend its reach with new projects to support the needs of children. The League founded Nashville Children’s Theatre in 1931 and went on to stage children’s radio programs through the Great Depression and World War II.
Recognizing the need for quality mental health services, the League established the Mental Health Center (later called Dede Wallace Center, now Centerstone) in the late 1950s. The center was the first of its kind in the country and served as a model for other centers nationwide. JLN continued to innovate by raising funds to support community programs. Its cookbooks—“Nashville Seasons” (1964), “Encore! Nashville” (1977) and later “Notably Nashville” (2004)—were a phenomenal success, and its follies show in 1974 was so successful it inspired the League to produce a musical called “Ice Cream for Nashville” in 1979 for Nashville’s bicentennial celebration. The show brought thousands of people to the Tennessee Theater, helping bring new energy to downtown Nashville.
With money from fundraisers, the League developed music and art program programs for Metro schools with the Nashville Symphony and Cheekwood. It also funded projects with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC), the Tennessee State Museum and the Cumberland Science Museum (now Adventure Science Center). The 1980s brought new League initiatives, including founding CASA (Court Appointed
Special Advocates) in coalition with the National Council of Jewish Women and establishing programs dedicated to decreasing drug and alcohol abuse and serving abused children. In 1986, the Junior League of Nashville launched its Designers’ Show House, a weeks long event showcasing the work of Nashville’s best interior designers while raising money for JLN community projects. This popular fundraising event continued for more than 20 years.
In 1987, JLN helped establish Our Kids to provide medical evaluations and crisis counseling in response to child sexual abuse. Two years later, it helped create Recovery Residences for chemically dependent teens. Throughout the 1990s, the League partnered with the Salvation Army on expanding access to childcare and implemented programs to serve homeless children and children with disabilities. JLN partnered with Oasis Center to establish its Teen Outreach Program, which continues to empower teens with the tools and skills needed to avoid risky behaviors and develop a vision for their future. In 1996, JLN helped create Renewal House, the longest-running residential substance abuse program in Tennessee where mothers can remain with their children. Later in the decade, JLN founded the Nashville chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Starting in 1990, JLN produced the “Heart of the Matter” show on public television to broaden awareness of community issues. JLN members served as camera operators, producers, interviewers and more. The program educated Nashville on critical issues for 10 years.
To celebrate the new millennium, JLN endorsed a significant gift to establish the children’s section of the Nashville Public Library’s main branch and helped establish Lily’s Garden, the first fully accessible playscape in Tennessee. In more recent years, the League has consciously focused its volunteer and financial resources on addressing two key community impact areas—early childhood literacy and preventing human trafficking. In partnership with nonprofit agency partners across the city, JLN volunteers are improving outcomes for youth and advocating for human trafficking victims.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
One hundred years later, the bold vision of the League’s founders is as strong as ever. And, as always, the Junior League is poised to meet the ever-changing needs of Nashville in supporting the wellbeing of women and children. JLN’s 1,500 members can be found at every level of volunteer work throughout Nashville—involved in direct service, advocating for issues and serving on nonprofit boards.
Today’s League is comprised of women of different races, religions, generations and backgrounds, and JLN leaders continue to make a concerted effort to shed long-held stereotypes and foster a culture of diversity and inclusion. While there is more work to be done, JLN members are women with diverse opinions, talents and skills connected by a common mission. These are women whose lives have been enriched by being part of an organization that allows them to grow and deepen their connections—all while improving the community.
Interwoven with the story of the Junior League are women’s lives and how they have changed from the beginning of the century. It’s a story of women empowering women. The League story past and future holds a strong common thread—that women volunteers are powerful leaders for community change.
FOUNDED PROGRAMS
Below are highlights of the many programs founded by the Junior League of Nashville:
- 1923 Junior League Home for Crippled Children (now known as Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt)
- 1931 Nashville Children’s Theatre
- 1956 Nashville Mental Health Center (later called Dede Wallace Center, now Centerstone)
- 1969 Volunteer Action Center (now Hands On Nashville)
- 1974 Endowment for Tennessee Performance Arts Center (TPAC)
- 1981 Museum Experience Room at Tennessee State Museum; Curiosity Corner at Cumberland Science Center (now Adventure Science Center)
- 1982 Artist-in-Residence Program, Nashville Institute for the Arts (now at TPAC)
- 1983 CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)
- 1987 Our Kids
- 1992 Oasis Center’s Teen Outreach Program, Women’s Center at Meharry, Nashville Immunization Coalition (now Nashville Area Childhood Immunization Fund)
- 1996 Renewal House & Playground at Elmington Park
- 1997 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Nashville Chapter)
- 2000 Junior League Child Care Center (now McNeilly Center for Children)
- 2001 Nashville Public Library Children’s Services (Main Library)
- 2002 Lily’s Garden Playground at Fannie Mae Dees Park
- 2012 Sickle Cell Disease & Asthma Program at Matthew Walker Center
- 2016 Child Life Program at Children’s Hospital
Learn more about joining the Junior League movement, supporting its mission and it's centennial celebration at jlnashville.org.