Junior League of Buffalo History National History 100 Years of Junior League

• On June 5, 1919 a meeting was held in the home of Mrs. Seymour H. Knox (800 Delaware Avenue) to discuss bringing the Junior League to Buffalo.  Sixty-seven women responded to the first roll call with Mrs. Nelson Taylor presiding.
• Junior League of Buffalo founded
• $50 donated to Children’s Hospital for Sewing Supplies

• Focus: Children and Families
• Operated a food store on Allen Street
• Purchased a Thrift Shop for $1.00 from the Red Cross (the first League Thrift Shop in the country)
• Proceeds from Thrift Shop and variety shows were donated to Children’s Hospital - $37,086
• $15,241 donated to a Dental Clinic Endorsement Fund at Children’s Hospital

• Focus: Children and Families
• Food store and Thrift Shop continued
• Fundraisers supported a visiting teacher for homebound students and a health care clinic
• League members brought theater to 2,500 school children

• Focus: Children, the Arts
• League headquarters became a gallery for local artists
• Sponsored a Community Radio institute lecture series
• Began a children’s radio series
• Assisted in establishing one of the country’s first centers for young adults with cerebral palsy
• Provided financial support for Red Cross Blood Bank, Children’s Hospital and The Buffalo Philharmonic.

• Focus: Children
• Extensive support for Children’s Hospital, Cerebral Palsy Center, Buffalo Philharmonic concerts for high school students
• Established Council of Social Agencies
• $4,000 – Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
• The Follies fundraiser show

• Focus: Children, Children’s Health Issues, Historical Preservation
• Support for Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo Museum of Science
• $50,000 pledge to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation – spearheaded drive to restore the Wilcox Mansion (pictured here)
• Actively participated in creation of educational television programs
• Vision screening for preschoolers
• Prepared large print materials for the visually impaired
• $20,000 donated to Volunteer Service Bureau and Children’s Aid Society
• $15,000 - Penguin Aquarium at the Buffalo Zoo, $11,000  and Studio Arena for audience development.

• Focus: Criminal Justice, Environment, Children in Crisis, The Arts
• Co-sponsored major exhibit at Albright-Knox Art Gallery
• Supported Compass and Day Care Council of Erie County
• $8,500 grant to develop Environmental Clearinghouse Organization
• Received national recognition for model programs for women at Erie County Correctional Facility
• Added Haunted House to fundraisers
• First annual Ethnic Heritage Festival
• $13,000 - TOY (Theatre of Youth), $8,500 – Zoomobile, $4,035 – Hospice, $9,965 - Discovery Room at the Buffalo Museum of Science

• Focus: Women and Children, Downtown Revitalization, Training, Advocacy and Collaboration
• Developed and supported the Domestic Violence Coalition, Effective Parenting Information for Children, Haven House, The Community Dispute Program, The Victim Witness Program, The Juvenile Mediation Program, Kids On the Block
• Supported Western New York Child Care Coalition
• Helped to develop Leadership Buffalo
• Decorators’ Show House Project begun: Larkin House (1981), Ransom House (1983), Bassett House (1985), Kellogg House (1987), Appleton Mansion (1989)
• Over $600,000 donated to: Waterfront Summer Concert Series, Cybernetic Light Show in Lafayette Square, Central Referral Services, Inc., Restoration of Buffalo Lighthouse, Tifft Nature Preserve Education
• $8,000 donated to develop an Architectural Guidebook & Awareness Program in collaboration with UB (JLB docents)
• $4,000 - the Center for Aging Study at UB, $8,000 – Hospice, $5,000 - Compass House for renovations, $15,000 - Ronald McDonald House, $9,977 - Access Guide for Disabled and Elderly, $18,000 - Toy & Equipment lending Library

• Focus: Empowering Women, Family, Literacy, Restoration
• Designed and developed Co-Care for children of alcoholic parents
• Created “Buffalo Beckons” an access guide for the disabled
• Introduced LEAF (Learning Empowerment and Families), a literacy program
• Girls, Inc.: Teen pregnancy prevention program in collaboration with the YWCA
• Community Collaborative Forum
• Vienna presentation at United Nations NGO Conference
• Beijing presentation at United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women
• AJLI/BMW Community Impact Merit Award
• Great Lake Effects: Buffalo Beyond Winter and Wings Cookbook introduced: awarded the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tabasco Award
• Decorators’ Show House:  McLean House (1991), The Birtches (1993), E.B. Green’s Robert Donner Home (1995), The President’s House (1997), Larkin House (1999)
• Over $890,000 donated to: The Buffalo Zoo, Waterfront Concert Series, Hospice Education Center, Kleinhans Music Hall, EPIC (Every Person Influences Children), Compass House and the Theater of Youth.

• Focus: Families at Risk 
• Girls, Inc. continued
• Families United: Program whose purpose is to decrease the incidence of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS infection affecting teen moms and their families. 
• Child and Family Services: Family Violence intervention program
• Kid's Cafe project with the Food Bank of Western New York
• Decorators’ Show House: The Schoellkopf Vom-Berge Manor (2001), Miller Mansion (2003), The Century House (2005), The Silverthorne Mansion (2007)
• First cookbook – award winning Great Lake Effects: Buffalo Beyond Winter and Wings, sales exceed 24,000 books
• Junior League of Buffalo teams up with a community project with Literacy Volunteers in 2007

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