Our History

  • 1928

    Junior Service League

    The Junior Service League was organized in 1928 with twenty-four charter members and a project of volunteer service.

    Charter Members

    Mrs. Robert T. Amos (Charlotte McMichael)
    Mrs. Harold C. Bennett (Nellie Muse)
    Mrs. Elizabeth H. Covington (Elizabeth Harris)
    Mrs. Clara S. Harcourt (Clara Steele)
    Mrs. Lucile Herring (Lucile Sherrod)
    Mrs. Roland Holton (Nell Morris)
    Miss Violet Johnson
    Mrs. Tom J. Kearns (Margaret Anderson)
    Mrs. Andrew Lindsay (Ida Paulette)
    Mrs. Everett Marsh (Odelle Peacock)
    Mrs. Ben Moore (Louise Reitzel)
    Mrs. John Peacock (Frances Mann)
    Mrs. W.T. Powell (Annie Mae Walker)
    Mrs. A.M. Rankin Jr. (Adele Wineskie)
    Mrs. Katherine Raymond
    Mrs. Richard Reitzel (Lillie Nelson)
    Mrs. Bertha Rochelle (Bertha Cox)
    Mrs. W.D. Simmons Jr. (Helen Fisher)
    Mrs. Willis Slane (Meredith Clark)
    Mrs. O. Delk Smith (Edna Wall)
    Mrs. Matt Wall (Elizabeth Bowne)
    Mrs. Capus M. Waynick (Elizabeth McBee)
    Mrs. Ed Wertz (Pauline Simmons)
    Mrs. Alex H. Whitley (Margorie Tate)

  • 1948

    Twenty years later, in 1948, an application for membership in the Association of Junior Leagues of America was made. Following four inspections over four years, the League was accepted into Association membership, and “Service” dropped from the name. The League has pioneered four significant volunteer fields of service: health, welfare, education, and cultural arts.

  • to 2015

    • Entertained children at the County Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1928-29)
    • Operated the Furniture Market Cafeteria (1928-44)
    • Started the Well-Baby Clinic (1930-39)
    • Organized a Thrift Shop which later was known as the Bargain Boutique (1935-2005)
    • Performed in the Hallelujah High Point Follies (1945-46, 47-48, 82-83, 86-87, 92-93, 2000-01)
    • Organized a Community Radio Council to serve educational agencies (1946-48)
    • Began a Corrective Speech Clinic (1949-52)
    • Set up the Center School for Exceptional Children (1954-56)
    • Furnished a visitor’s room for foster children at the Welfare Department (1963-64)
    • Helped form the Mental Health Association (1966-67)
    • Helped establish a Task Force on Drugs (1970-71)
    • Formed the Carousel Theatre which brings professional children’s theater to High Point (1970’s)
    • Assisted the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival (1977-81)
    • Developed two Coalitions on Adolescent Pregnancy (1984-85)
    • Began CHILDWATCH, a project to prevent child abuse (1992)
    • Provided the program Effective Parenting Information for Children with Family Service, Inc. (1993)
    • Co-sponsored with the JL of Greensboro a traveling art exhibit called Kaleidoscope (1993-94)
    • Opened a crisis facility called Hallelujah House with High Point Regional Hospital (1994)
    • Collaborated with the YWCA to create a Women’s Resource Center (2002-03)
    • Offered teacher mini-grants to area teachers (1991-2009, 2016)
    • Purchased, preserved and renovated the 100-year-old landmark home on Main Street; the house currently serves as the Junior League of High Point, Inc. – Mary Strickland Froelich Headquarters – The Briles House. (2006-2007)
    • The Children’s Learning Center at the High Point Museum – A Kindergarten readiness program (2006-2008)
    • Kids In The Kitchen – A program dedicated to educating children on healthy eating habits. (2006 to present)
    • Kick-off to Kindergarten: Parent Day- An annual resource fair at the High Point Museum for parents of preschoolers (2008-2012)
    • Parkview Elementary Literacy Program- In partnership with Communities in Schools, fulfill literacy needs of second-grade students (2012-2015)
    • Opened the Briles House-the JLHP headquarters to tours for 4th graders to educate students on the importance of Historic Preservation (2015)
    • Hosted Designer Showhouse and raised over $90,000 (2015)