Opinion: Junior League Hopes to Halt “Image Problem”

In the midst of a financial crisis, a public battle between the departing president and the board, and the historic appointment of the group’s first black president, the New York Junior League chapter is in a time of major upheaval.

But Charlotte Hays, editor of In Character, writes in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that the exclusive image of Junior League membership has harmed the group since its inception.

Ms. Hays explains that from its founding in 1901, “The idea [of the League] was that young ladies of a certain background would be trained as volunteers and then go on to become more senior members of the community of good works, ultimately spreading those works to the rest of the country.”

Today, with Gena Lovett, a black woman and the chief operating officer of a Manhattan hedge fund, named president, the League hopes to finally leave its exclusive “white gloved” image behind, says Ms. Hays.

“There is no doubt that the gloved women of yesteryear would be surprised to find the African-American Ms. Lovett at their helm,” she adds. “But what really would have shocked early League ladies is that Ms. Lovett . . . has a job. It used to be that the Junior League was for ladies of leisure. There are not many of those today. The League was bound to change or go out of business.”