The Volunteer Powerhouse, Chapter 2

Next up on our schedule of serialized reading is Chapter Two of The Volunteer Powerhouse, entitled “New Roles for Debutantes.” It explores the first decade of The Junior League and brings to light several traditions and core principles that remain vital threads in the Movement’s fabric even today.

We are given an in-depth portrait of the energetic and strong-willed Mary Harriman, who was intent on not living the life of the stereotypical sheltered rich girl by doing something meaningful with her life – and convincing her peers to do likewise. While commuting to Barnard one day in her horse-drawn carriage known as a sulky — or floating in a lake on her parents’ 20,000-acre estate in Orange County, N.Y. on another (reports conflict as to the timing of her idea)–she is said to have mused exuberantly that she and her fellow debutantes would go to work in the settlements on New York’s impoverished Lower East Side, work she had heard about in a lecture by Louise Lockwood.

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November is Inspirational Role Models Month

What bold babe lit your fire? What daring dame do you most admire? What gutsy gal changed the way you see the world? What lioness’s legacy do you find most inspiring? Who do you think is the world’s most phenomenal female? What woman’s living the dream you have for yourself?

Are you there yet?

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The Volunteer Powerhouse, Chapter 1

It’s time for our next installment of high-quality Junior League reading material.

This time we’re digging inside The Volunteer Powerhouse, an excellent history of The Junior League authored by Janet Gordon and Diana Reische and published in 1982 by The Rutledge Press.

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The Junior League: 100 Years of Volunteer Service, Chapter 1

Over the years, The Junior League has been the subject of two books definitely worth a read, The Junior League: 100 Years of Volunteer Service and The Volunteer Powerhouse.

Loaded with important history, profiles of inspiring women, and compelling coverage of significant accomplishments with great relevance to The Junior League of today (and an occasional bit of juicy trivia), the titles are increasingly tough to get your hands on, so we decided to serialize them, chapter by chapter, here on connected to make them more accessible to members.

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