» Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill to the Holy City 

This post is written by Nate Hubler, the Avery Research Center’s Liberatory Legacies Archival Fellow, who started in this position in February 2024. She will contribute blog posts about the collections she is processing through the grant. 

Situating a Collection: From Local Beginnings to a National Organization 

Jack and Jill of America’s roots are found in the Philadelphia home of Marion Stubbs Thomas in 1938, where she and her friends joined to create a social club for them and their children. They did not name their group Jack and Jill or have a formal structure at the time. Still, their early decisions, like pooling resources to throw parties and attending cultural enrichment activities with their children, became instructive as word of the club spread through members’ social networks and similar clubs sprouted up in other cities.¹ The expansion of the clubs through members’ social networks also meant that membership primarily spread between African American families, creating an ever-growing network of African American social clubs for mothers and children. 

Another foundational, common practice among the early clubs was dividing the participating children into age-based groups during meetings. This helped to design social activities and events targeting each group’s specific developmental needs and goals. To that end, Membership in a club was much more than just a desire for socializing, “early members were largely attracted to the clubs because they were, ‘desirous that [their children] be associated more closely and grow to manhood and womanhood enjoying and profiting by each other’s society’ (Metropolitan Chapter 1957)”².

By 1946, the club had grown to include ten cities, each now referred to as a chapter. Representatives of eight of the ten chapters met to devise and vote on plans for a national organization. The following year, in 1947, the chapters established a national constitution and bylaws and incorporated Jack of Jill of America in Delaware.³ The national organization provided an overarching structure, but the mother-members of each chapter continued to operate independently to create programming and social spaces that catered to their chapter’s needs.  

Jack and Jill of America now have 271 individual chapters, and more than 50,000 family members participate. The proliferation of new chapters and the continued activities of long-existing chapters have led to continual growth for the organization. Still, because, both nationally and locally, much of the organization operates privately, it is easy to be unaware of the group’s activities and accomplishments, whether at the national or local level. For this reason, in her dissertation, Dr. CiAuna Heard, who is now an Assistant Professor at Santa Clara University, characterizes the group as a hidden population because: 

They are selectively hidden (or made visible) through the actions of the organization’s headquarters and individual members. Structurally, this means that researchers, new members, and other strangers only gain access to the community via gatekeepers. Similarly, the physical materials of the organization (handbooks, flyers, etc.) are often passed down from chapter president to chapter president, or are placed and then forgotten in someone’s storage space. There is not currently a cohesive archival system for Jack and Jill materials, rather materials are either eventually thrown away, or potentially donated… ⁴

Even Jack and Jill of America has recognized that they often operate in the background, “For 60 years, the organization has labored silently in the shadows, preferring to let its actions speak. ‘We don’t historically beat our own drum,’ [National President Sheryl Benning] Thomas says. ‘We are quiet about it. We do what we can in the community to better conditions for our own and others. That is our joy.’”⁵ 

Thanks to family donations, two recent accruals to the J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers help illuminate the chartering and early years of the Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill of America. Among the materials are a scrapbook documenting the first decade of the chapter, Jack and Jill of America publications like Up the Hill and Scope, correspondence, and memorabilia. 

Jack and Jill Come to Charleston 

Jack and Jill made its arrival in Charleston in 1954. The chartering members of the Charleston Chapter first secured sponsorship from the Columbia (S.C.) Chapter of Jack and Jill and then was officially chartered as part of Jack and Jill of America on April 20, 1954. Its installation service was held six months later, on October 8^th at the Owl’s Roost. The service was facilitated by Nellie G. Rhoulac, the National President of Jack and Jill of America. At the time of its installation, the chapter was comprised of twenty-four mothers⁶ and thirty-nine⁷ children.  

The chapter’s leadership in its first year included Lois L. Moses (President), Orville D. Lampkin (Vice President), Emily S. DeCosta (Secretary), Lawrence M. Fleming (Corresponding Secretary), MaeDe M. Brown (Treasurer), Melicent O. Anderson (Journalist), and Marguerite R. Howie (Program Director). Many of the mothers in the initial leadership would continue to serve in various leadership roles throughout their children’s time in Jack and Jill. 

“Lets’ Work, Lets’ Play, Lets’ Live Together”  

The chapter’s first full-year theme was “Lets’ Work, Lets’ Play, Lets’ Live Together” and activities were planned for each month and distributed through an annual chapter program. During its first year, activities were scheduled for different age groups whose ages changed monthly depending on the planned activities. Children were sometimes further separated within their age group according to their gender. One month, this might mean that the boys repaired toys while the girls made doll dresses, while another month, the girls made beads and earrings while the boys worked on airplane construction.⁸ During months when the Jacks and Jills were only split by age, they did activities like book reviews, nature trips, museum visits, and parties and picnics. Based on the annual chapter programs in the scrapbook, it appears that as the chapter developed, greater emphasis was placed on having the boys and girls of each age group do monthly activities together rather than separated for gendered activities. 

The first year of the chapter was not without its external struggles as the mothers and children dealt with the racist discrimination of Jim Crow segregation while carrying out their schedule. During a planned outing to the WUSN-TV Station, the group was given the run around by employees after arriving for their scheduled visit. Understandably, “[they] refused to have the children so embarrassed and humiliated and took them home.”⁹ 

Activities were not only for the children in the chapter—but also for the mothers involved. Beyond supervising the children during chapter activities and managing the chapter itself, mothers also had their own scheduled activities. During the 1956-1957 program year, a study program was organized for interested mothers. Discussion topics included “Assistance the Father Can Give the Working Mother with Children 2-5 Years Old” and “Communicable Diseases of the 6-8 Years Group.” A panel was also planned titled “Youth Speaks Out,” which was to be moderated by one of the mothers and feature teens in the chapter as panelists discussing a wide range of topics like dating, hours, home responsibilities, make-up and clothing, attitude towards parents, education, and spending money. 

Building a Community 

Civic engagement was critical to the Charleston Chapter and was practiced in several ways throughout the year. The chapter shared the national organization’s focus on combatting polio and supported the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis through fundraising initiatives. The mothers collected chapter dues and organized benefit events for the public to raise money for their charity work. The chapter also “adopted” a family each year and supported them during the holidays by donating a Thanksgiving meal and gifts at Christmas time. Other local organizations that the chapter supported included the Reid House of Christian Services and the YWCA building fund. 

Engagement with the community also meant gathering with other Jacks and Jills at the Mid-Atlantic Teenage Regional Conference and the National Conference. The conferences would emphasize the organization’s educational and social components, with presentation topics covering topics like laying a foundation for adulthood and utilizing talents to promote good community relations and opportunities for attendees to get to know each other through luncheons and other social events. The collection has multiple signature books showing signatures Joenelle, the eldest Brown daughter, collected in small booklets while attending the regional conferences. 

Graduating Out but Continuing the Work 

The chapter grew steadily throughout MaeDe Brown and her three daughters’ time in the chapter, with fifty-two children registered as Jacks and Jills during the 1961-1962 program year. Children graduate from Jack and Jill around the time of their 18^th birthday. Hence, the materials documenting the Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill in the J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers and the Millicent E. Brown papers end with Millicent, the youngest daughter, graduating in 1966. While that marked the end of the Brown family’s involvement in the Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill, the chapter’s work continued in Charleston without breaking stride.  

The J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers and the Millicent E. Brown papers contain materials about the early years of the Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill of America.

Footnotes

1. Heard, CiAuna F. “Up the Hill with Jack and Jill: The Social Reproduction of Intersectional Communities”, p. 6. Up the Hill with Jack and Jill: The Social Reproduction of Intersectional Communities. Dissertation, Temple University Libraries, 2020.  ↩︎
2. Ibid., p. 6-7. ↩︎
3. “Our History.” www.jackandjillinc.org, September 28, 2022. https://www.jackandjillinc.org/our-history.  ↩︎
4.  Ibid., p. 18 ↩︎
5. “Climbing New Hills: Jack and Jill of America mobilizes for the new century”. Ebony, vol. 52, no. 12, October, 1997 Johnson Publishing, p 50.  ↩︎
6. Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill 1954-1955 program, 1954, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.  ↩︎
7. Unidentified newspaper clipping from a news scrapbook page, 1955, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.  ↩︎
8. 1955-1956 chapter program ↩︎
9. Unidentified newspaper clipping from a news scrapbook page, 1955, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.  ↩︎

Image Citations 

Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill proposed budget, 1960, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

On Up the Hill We Climb scrapbook page, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Scrapbook cover, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill admittance letter, 1954, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill 1954-1955 program, 1954, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Letter from Lois Moses to the Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill, 1955, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of annual Jack and Jill gay teens party, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Jack and Jill Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference program, 1958, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Charleston Chapter of Jack and Jill Party at the Reid Center scrapbook page, 1955, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

News scrapbook page, 1955, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of annual Jack and Jill annual children’s party, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Appreciation Service honoring Mr. and Mrs. John F. Potts program, 1954, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Coffee hour benefit program, 1957, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Jack and Jill party photographs scrapbook page, 1958, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Oversize Box 4, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of unknown Jack and Jill event, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of Jack and Jill graduates, 1961, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of Jack and Jill skating party, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of Jack and Jill Valentine cruise teenagers party, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA 

Photograph of Jack and Jill Valentine party for ages two to twelve, Undated, J. Arthur and MaeDe Brown papers, Box 20, Folder 5, Avery Research Center, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA