In 1901, Mary Harriman, a 19-year-old New York City debutante with a social conscience, forms the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements. Harriman mobilizes a group of 80 other young women, hence the name "Junior" League, to work to improve child health, nutrition, and literacy among immigrants living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Inspired by her friend Mary, Eleanor Roosevelt joins the Junior League of the City of New York in 1903, teaching calisthenics and dancing to young girls at the College Settlement House.

The second Junior League is formed in Boston, MA in 1907 and is soon followed by the founding of the Brooklyn, NY Junior League in 1910. In 1912, The Junior League of Montreal becomes the first League in Canada. The rest is history.

The Junior League of Central Westchester was formed in 1921. Continue on to find out more about our rich history.. The First Decades