The Junior League of Midland, Inc. (the “League”) began as the Midland Service League in 1949, with charter membership of 29 women. The League has continued its legacy of service to the community through a wide variety of community projects.

Some of the first projects developed by the Midland Service League include Story telling at the Library, the Mobile Magazine Cart at Western Clinic Hospital, and assisting the Children’s Theatre. The League required each member to provide at least 80 hours of volunteer service each year. The first year, the Charter members worked 1370 hours.

During the 1950s, the League established the Children’s Dental Clinic and Family Counseling Services, and the League had a representative on the Citizen’s Traffic Safety Commission and other community boards. The League created the Children’s Isolation Ward at Midland Memorial Hospital and complied and distributed the Directory of Community Services. The League presented children’s concerts in cooperation with the Midland Symphony League.

In addition to volunteer hours, the League also provided financial support to its projects, and gifts to the community. The first gift was an incubator for Midland Memorial Hospital. Fundraising projects consisted of candy and calendar sales the first year. The League established its first fundraising event, Charity Ball, in 1951. In addition to Charity Ball, the Midland Service League operated a Clothing Mart. Members of the League submitted the clothes. The Clothing Mart was the forerunner of the Next-to-New Shop, which the League built in 1957.

In April 1954, the name of the Midland Service League was changed to the Junior Welfare League. In April 1957, the Junior Welfare League applied to the Admissions Committee of the Association of Junior Leagues. Their denial, due to the small size of the city population, was received in June.

In the 1960s, the Junior Welfare League offered placement opportunities at the Cerebral Palsy Center, the Opportunity Center, the Outpatient Department of Midland Memorial Hospital, the Children’s Diagnostic Clinic, and the Red Cross. The League offered child protective films in schools. League members served on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the Southwest when it officially opened and as chairman for the Objectives for Midland Program. The members’ service to the Midland Community Theatre earned the League the annual Ham Hocks’ Award for outstanding contributions to the Community Theatre. In February 1964, the Junior Welfare League was elected to membership in The Association of Junior Leagues as the 195th Junior League in the United States.

The 1970s brought the issues of drugs to the community’s attention. The Junior League of Midland, Inc. purchased anti-drug film spots for television. The League participated in “Christmas in October,” a Community Self-Help Project for lower income homes, and initiated the Telephone reassurance Program Volunteers in Midland. Placement opportunities in 1970s included the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, Audiometric Screening, CPR training, and the Prenatal Clinic. The Junior League of Midland Inc. provided the History of Midland Exhibit at the Museum of the Southwest and initiated the financed Partners in Reading Program with the Midland Independent School District.

The 1980s saw the continuation of many projects (such as the Museum of the Southwest, the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, Audiometric screening, CPR training, and the Children’s Dental Clinic), and involvement in new service projects (Adult Basic Education, Hospice, and the Emergency Shelter Boards). The junior League of Midland, Inc. financed and developed Tumbleweed Playground, a park for children of the community. The League adopted position statements on the issues of child welfare, substance abuse, and the elderly. From these issues, the League developed several important projects, including: Standing Tall, Teen Court, Kids on the Block, Council Against Substance Abuse, Junior League Singers, and Hearthstone. Hearthstone, an emergency shelter for abused and neglected children, was deeded to the Texas Baptist Children’s Home from the League and the First Baptist Church of Midland. The League also erected a permanent headquarters facility. The Charity Ball and the Next-to-New Shop continued to be successful fundraising projects and the League sought and received several generous grants from local foundations. In 1988-89, the League celebrated its 40th birthday as a Service League and its 25th birthday as a member of The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI). These birthdays were honored by holding a placement showcase at Midland Park Mall, the making of a video documenting the first 15 years of the Midland Service League, and, most significantly, by giving a total of $100,000 to 13 different community organizations.

In anticipation of a fifth decade of service to Midland, the League participated in Objective 2000, the city’s program to establish goals and objectives for the 1990s and approved a $10,000 contribution for this program to Forward Midland. Perhaps the most conspicuous activity of 1989-90 was that the capital campaign for headquarters expansion. Entitled “Building for a Better Midland,” the campaign began following several years of projecting and then planning for the increasing needs of the League for additional office, meeting, work, and other support space. The expanded Headquarters was officially opened in May of 1992, and the space is shared with other non-profit organizations, neighbors, and friends of the community.

The 1990s began with the celebration of the Charity Ball’s 40th birthday in 1991. The League added a new fundraiser, called the Festival of Trees, in 1992. It was eventually dropped in 1997. By 1993, all general Meetings were held in Mabee Hall of the new Headquarters, while the League continued to strive to maximize usage of the building among itself as well as with other non-profit organizations. Internal streamlining of placements in conjunction with AJLI trends took several years to accomplish in the mid-90s. A $30,000 donation was made for Blitz Building ’97, a project of Habitat for Humanity in 1997. In 1999, the League culminated its fifth decade of service in Midland with a year-long 50yh birthday celebration of the Midland Junior League and an $125,000 gift to four community agencies: $60,000 to the Fredda Turner Durham Children’s Museum for the Cityscape construction, $20,000 to Midland Memorial Foundation for a Nuclear Medicine Gamma Probe, $20,000 to the Midland Fire Department for the Argus Thermal Imaging Camera, and $25,000 to Young Life for their Activity Building.

Although the League remained committed to promoting voluntarism through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers, the new millennium brought about change. After fifty-three years, Charity Ball was no longer a lucrative fundraiser and members were forced to look at new ways to raise funds to support their community projects. In 2001, Clay Shoot was established and Spring Fling followed in 2004. Due to these efforts, the League added a number of community projects, including: Bynum Schools, Scholarship Clearinghouse, and Suits with Skills. In 2003, AJLI launched several programs, one of which featured universal brand identity. By 2004, more than 80% of Leagues had adopted the “Women Building Better Communities” tagline. AJLI also created its first ever project, Kids in the Kitchen. Gaining international attention, the Midland Provisionals added Kids in the Kitchen to their curriculum in 2006. With the success of the Clay Shoot fundraiser, in 2006 the League began the tradition of Buckshot Bash, a dance and dinner to celebrate the shoot. 2008 saw two new Community Projects added to serve our growing membership: Face the Race and Family First. In 2009, the League celebrated its 60th year of community service and gifted Vision2020, a strategic plan for Midland’s future, to the community.

More information on the Junior League of Midland History can be found here: https://www.jlmidland.org/about/our-history/