Explore 100 Years of Dallas Junior League History at the State Fair of Texas

On Friday, September 24, the State Fair of Texas is back in business and ready with fried delicacies. (We’re drooling just thinking of this 2021 semifinalist: deep-fried seafood gumbo balls loaded with Gulf Coast shrimp.) While there, check out the exhibition in the Hall of State commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Dallas Junior League. The show includes historical documents, memorabilia, and vintage photographs celebrating a century of women who were never afraid to roll up their sleeves in service to their community.

The origin story is series worthy (Netflix, please give us a show starring Reese Witherspoon), with the Dallas chapter launching in 1922 by a group of civic-minded women determined to make a difference. Remember, this was just two years after they had been granted the right to vote, and women had few opportunities outside of the home. Given that the League today is nearly 5,000 strong, many of you reading this have probably spent your requisite time with JLD and might find pictures of yourselves or perhaps grandmothers and great grandmothers on display.

Pull out your monogrammed Smythson datebooks, because the organization has an impressive list of events over the next nine months, including a luncheon on April 22, 2022, honoring former first lady Laura Bush with a lifetime achievement award. After all: “Well-behaved women rarely make history,” as Junior League alum Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly quipped.