Established in 1940, the Junior League of Longview, Inc., is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
The Junior League of Longview, Inc. was organized as the Longview Charity League on March 13, 1940, and received its charter on April 9, 1940.
In 1940-1941, the League embarked on its first project, which was the establishment of a day nursery. Throughout the early years, the League undertook many projects aimed at improving the Longview community.
The League ladies knew that every great city has an investment in cultural arts, so in 1958, the League started its own cultural arts program. The League organized the Red Stocking Revue, a Broadway-style variety show, as a fundraiser to purchase pieces of artwork. Simultaneously, the League organized the First Annual Invitational Painting Exhibition. The League, in 1958, used proceeds from the Red Stocking Revue to purchase two oil paintings for a permanent art museum collection.
This started an annual tradition in which Red Stocking Revue proceeds were used to acquire more winning pieces from the annual invitational exhibitions. Because a physical museum did not exist at the time, in order to show the artwork, the League ladies would load the artwork into their vehicles and travel with them to local schools where they would educate children about the art. They affectionately became known as “The Picture Ladies.”
As the art collection grew, the pieces began to be housed in the former Nicholson Memorial Library. In 1972, Longview Museum of Fine Arts officially received its charter and opened at its original location in the former Northcutt Furniture Store building on College Street. The museum opened with an art collection of more than 50 pieces that had been acquired by the Junior League over the years.
LMFA has since grown into a cornerstone arts entity within the Arts!Longview Cultural District. Today, the museum continues to operate at its Tyler Street location while continuing to renovate its new location at the corner of Fredonia Street and Methvin Street. Today, the museum is home to nearly 1,200 works of art including paintings, woodcuts, photographs, sculptures, lithographs, serigraphs, collages, and works on paper. The collection is centered around early Texas regional art from the 1930s and 1970s.
In addition to founding the museum, the League also made many other contributions to the Cultural Arts community. In 1961-1962, the League established its children’s theatre program, which it operated for more than four decades. In the children’s theatre program, the League ladies would perform a play for Longview school children. By 2003, the 41st children’s theatre play, “The Shoemakers and the Elves,” was performed to more than 10,000 area children. After ArtsView Children’s Theatre was founded in 2004 by Sandi Taylor, Vickie Echols, and Angela Wright, the League shifted its focus from the League ladies performing plays themselves to awarding grants for a couple of years to ArtsView. In February 2005, through support from the Junior League, ArtsView performed “Dorothy Meets Alice” to thousands of school children in the Longview area.
In 1966-1967, the League organized the first children’s symphony concert in partnership with Dr. James Snowden, founder of the Longview Symphony Orchestra. The program allowed school children to attend a symphony performance with the first children’s concert being attended by more than 2,800 Longview school children. This partnership continued for many years, and Dr. Snowden continues the children’s concerts, at which several League sustainers still volunteer, through the East Texas Symphonic Band.
In the 1990s, the League – in partnership with Longview Community Theatre – organized the Summer Youth Theatre Program in which children could attend summer camp to learn about theater arts. This partnership with Longview Community Theatre continued for more than a decade.
In 2002, the League awarded a grant to Longview Ballet Theatre that allowed Pat George Mitchell to partner with New York City Ballet to bring professional dancers to the local stage. This started a long-lasting partnership in which Mitchell brought in professional dancers from New York, Salt Lake City, and other professional dance companies to share a stage with local youth ballet dancers, elevating the impact of Longview Ballet Theatre.
Today, the League continues to focus on training volunteers to promote social change. Currently, the League’s primary focus is on poverty related issues. The League is working to enrich the community by devoting resources to positively impact the welfare of people in the East Texas area by promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through effective actions and leadership of trained volunteers.
