Junior League of Los Angeles's Centennial

April 21, 2026

2026 marks the centennial celebration of when the Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA) was accepted into the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. The JLLA is celebrating 100 years of women making a meaningful contribution to the Los Angeles community through volunteer service, community improvement projects, and educational events.

In 1925 Mrs. Katherine Jacomini (née Thomas), Mrs. Henriette Braly (née Janss), and thirty-two other like-minded women formed a group known as the Convalescent Children's League (CCL). children from the convalescent home, 1931 Having researched the community needs, CCL piloted the operation and support of a twelve-bed children's convalescent home on Ingraham Street, which became part of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. This original founding group was admitted to the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) in 1926 and became the Junior League of Los Angeles (JLLA).

The organization’s historical records are archived at CSUN’s Special Collections & Archives. In honor of the centennial, highlighted here are a few key documents from the Junior League of Los Angeles’s early years.

The original list of charter members from 1925 resides in the archives. It documents the inaugural officers for 1926-1927 including the first president: Mrs. Charles Gardner Bullis. 1926 JLLA Charter Members List It was once accepted practice in the United States to call married women by their husbands’ names, with the honorific “Mrs.” attached. Wherever possible we have reinserted their full names, but oftentimes the documents do not provide that information and we are left only with their husband's name at this time.

The meeting minutes from their first year as a Junior League document the election of delegates to travel to the National Conference, the establishment of committees, membership counts of up to 75 members, quarantines at the Convalescent Children's home, event planning including a horse show fundraiser, planning for the opening of a Junior League gift shop, and much more.

In 1927 League members formed the “Players Group”, a performance group that put on live shows for children in Los Angeles. Two of the founding members, Miss Katherine Thomas and Mrs. John Lind Rollins, performed as Cinderella and Prince Charming respectively in an early production of Cinderella.

In 1932 Los Angeles hosted the Twelfth Annual Conference of the Association of the Junior Leagues of America. Pictured are conference attendees at a luncheon held at MGM Studios after which they embarked on a sight-seeing tour of Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

The JLLA also produced the Los Angeles Junior League News from 1926 to 1976. Pictured here are members holding an Members holding a freshly printed issue of the Los Angeles Junior League news issue fresh off the printing press! CSUN also has a number of other resources and publications produced by the JLLA including recipe books, bulletins, and magazines.

Come into the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room at the University Library to view these gems in addition to other materials, including administrative files, meeting minutes, scrapbooks, event files, and philanthropic related materials documenting a century of the Junior League here in Los Angeles. Their work continues today to advance women's leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.