The Junior League of Richardson (JLR), established in 1966, is an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.  Its purposes are exclusively educational and charitable.

Vision Statement

Enriching Lives through Community Service.

History

The Junior League of Richardson was formed in 1966 as the Richardson Service League.  The League’s motto was “growth in service to the community” and their placement philosophy was that “the rent we pay for living in a free society is not the financial contribution we make, but the giving of ourselves”. In 1980, the Richardson Service League was admitted as the 242nd League in the Association of Junior Leagues International. This year the Junior League of Richardson celebrates its 44^th year in service to the community. Since then, the Junior League of Richardson has managed, funded, and implemented numerous projects throughout the Richardson and North Dallas Communities.

Membership

Over 150 women, Actives, Provisionals and Sustainers, representing diverse backgrounds and interests, participate in league activities. As a member of AJLI (Association of Junior Leagues International) we serve with the 293 Junior Leagues across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain, and have a collective membership of approximately 170,000.

Notable Junior League members include:

• Florence Bird, Canadian broadcaster, journalist and Senator
• Margot Birmingham, wife of Ross Perot
• Lindsay Brice, photographer
• Barbara Bush, former First Lady
• Laura Bush, former First Lady
• Sarah Palfrey Cooke, two-time Wimbledon champion
• Jeannie Deakyne, Army Officer and recipient of the Bronze Star Medal
• Marisol Deluna, fashion designer
• Ruth Draper, actress
• Pat Evans (mayor), former three-term mayor of Plano, TX from 2002-2009
• Betty Ford, former First Lady
• Cornelia Fort, first female pilot in American history to die on active duty
• Judith Giuliani (née Nathan), wife of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
• Margaret Hamilton, actress, best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz
• Margaret Hance, first female mayor of Phoenix, AZ
• Mary Harriman, founder of the Junior League
• Katharine Hepburn, actress
• Oveta Culp Hobby, first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps
• Glenda Hood, first woman mayor of Orlando, FL from 1992-2003
• Margaret McTavish Konantz, Canadian Parliament, first woman elected to Canadian House of Commons from Manitoba
• Martha Rivers Ingram, business woman, noted philanthropist
• Mary Pillsbury Lord, United Nations Delegate
• Carolyn Maloney, US Congresswoman
• Doris Matsui, US Congress - California (5th District), elected in 2005
• Willie Landry Mount, first female mayor of Lake Charles, LA, currently Louisiana State Senator
• Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Suzanne Perron, fashion designer
• Nancy Reagan, First Lady
• Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady, United Nations Delegate
• Margaret Chase Smith, first woman elected to U.S. Senate
• Bobbie Sparrow, Canadian politician, House of Commons
• Carole Keeton Strayhorn, first woman mayor of Austin, TX; served 1977-1983
• Deborah Taylor Tate, FCC Commissioner
• Shirley Temple Black, actress, United Nations Delegate, US Ambassador
• Eudora Welty, author and Pulitzer Prize winner
• Nadine Spencer, author, businesswoman, noted philanthropist