In 1901, Mary Harriman, a 19-year-old New York City debutante with a social conscience, founded the first Junior League. Moved by the suffering she saw around her, Harriman mobilized a group of 80 other young women - hence the name "Junior" League - to work to improve the squalid conditions in which immigrants were living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Mary Harriman's vision for improving communities by using the energy and commitment of trained volunteers caught on. The second Junior League was started in Boston, MA in 1907 and was soon followed by the founding of the Brooklyn, NY Junior League in 1910. The rest is history…

The Junior League of Lancaster was founded in 1923. On November 13th, the Y.W.C.A. was the scene of the first meeting of the future Junior League of Lancaster with fifty-five young women in attendance. Laura Watt, temporary chairman, was elected president.

Since the founding of the league in 1923, the Junior League of Lancaster has been a volunteer organization committed to developing the leadership potential of women to serve in improving the Lancaster community.

For more information on our organization, please visit The Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI).