Mary Harriman, the founder of The Junior League, has been cited on the National Women’s History Museum website for her work in mobilizing women to deal with the problems of the immigrant poor more than 100 years ago, at a time when public assistance was rare. Other notable League members on the website include Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Chase Smith and Shirley Temple Black.

Delly Beekman, president of The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc., said, “Mary Harriman is an amazing legacy for the Junior League today precisely because she redefined what a woman’s role should be in the early 20^th Century.  A member of one of the wealthiest families in America, she brought a group of her friends together to work in settlement houses serving the needs of immigrant women and children whose families were mired in poverty with few support systems. In doing so, she created the organization that is today one of the most influential women’s volunteer organizations in the world.”

The National Women’s History Museum was founded in 1996 by Karen K. Staser to preserve and celebrate the role of women across our country’s history. At this point, it exists only as a website.  Legislation to authorize it was first introduced as a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives by past Junior League member and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney in 2009, but the initiative to build the first national museum in Washington, D.C. dedicated exclusively to women failed to pass in the Senate. It will be reintroduced this Congress.

“Women like Mary Harriman have greatly contributed to the building of this nation. NWHM is pleased to include her biography as an example of one of this country’s leaders. NWHM proudly counts the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. as a NWHM Coalition Member and one of the most outstanding women’s organizations in America,” said Joan Wages, NWHM president & CEO.

Supporters can sign a petition here urging passage of the National Women’s History Museum Act to give the National Women’s History Museum a permanent home in Washington, D.C.