Junior League celebrates 100 years with exhibit, gala

Saturday, March 7, 6:30 p.m., Music Hall Ballroom

The Junior League of Cincinnati, a volunteer organization that has taken on more than 120 projects to serve the community, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in a big way.

Founded in 1920, the local chapter of the worldwide Junior League network will host a Centennial Gala in March at the Music Hall Ballroom. And there is a continuing exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center, on display through June 1, that documents and celebrates the group’s achievements over the years.

The Centennial Gala includes a dinner that uses recipes from past Junior League cookbooks, followed by an Emerald Dance Party with music by the Sly Band, an open bar and light bites by Eat Well. Cocktails and dinner are at 6:30 p.m., and the dance party begins at 9 p.m. Proceeds from the gala will benefit Junior League projects and training. Tickets for the dinner and dance party are $200; tickets for the dance party only are $100. www.jlcincinnati.org/centennial-gala

THE EXHIBIT

“Making a Difference for 100 Years,” showcases several Junior League projects with photos, graphics and a theater experience featuring interviews with Junior League members.

Among the projects featured:

• The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, developed by the JLC in 1924 as the Junior League Players to introduce kids to the theater

• MindPeace, a 2002 project to improve mental health care for area children

• Fernside Center for Grieving Children, established in 1986 and a national leader in providing grief support services

• GrinUp!, a recent initiative to improve oral health care for Ohio children

• Sweet Cheeks Diaper Bank, a new partnership to distribute 92,000 diapers a month to low-income families The exhibit is free for CMC members or included with admission.

www.cincymuseum.org/junior-league

A past Junior League president picking up the special Junior League edition in the early 1930s

Cincinnati Children’s Theatre in 1949, a past Junior League project

Part of the Grin Up project, “Inside the Grin” is the newest exhibit in the Duke Energy Children’s Museum at the Cincinnati Museum Center, a 2019 Junior League project

Junior League volunteers bundling diapers for a current project, Sweet Cheeks, that helps address diaper needs and poverty

The Cincinnati Fire Museum is a past Junior League project.

Junior League member and Cincinnati Art Museum docent Lee Crooks giving a tour in 2016

Junior League members advocating for the “Tampon Tax” repeal at the Ohio Statehouse 2019

Murals created for MindPeace by children with mental illness to combat stigma