LAWRENCE OTIS GRAHAM reflects on the significance of the revered organization and why it's still important today
Then...
During my childhood, I believed that the only black kids who became successful adults were the ones who had grown up in Jack and Jill. No one had actually ever said this to me, but circumstances led me to this rather obnoxious conclusion. When I attended the 1974 Jack and Jill of America, Inc. convention in Los Angeles with my parents, I saw children of the hosting chapter being driven from the affluent hillside neighborhoods of View Park and Baldwin Hills in Cadillacs, Mercedes, and Rolls-Royces with "MD" and "DDS" license plates. When I was a high school sophomore I met dozens of J&J teenagers at the annual Copacabana Christmas party in Manhattan who had already lined up summer internships on Wall Street. And when I moved into my freshman dormitory at Princeton, I wound up living across the courtyard from three Jack and Jillers, one of whom was the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. I always had the sense that the J&J kids were not just well-heeled, but that they had life all figured out. And Now... This is why I have one answer for black friends who ask me today if they should try to get their kids into Jack and Jill: You're insane if you don't. As a third-generation member of this great 70-year-old institutuion, I have six reasons why parents should want their children to be a part of this invitation-only service organization: - It exposes them to positive black experiences that build their self-esteem.
- It brings them into a social network that will carry them from childhood to adulthood.
- The J&J "Up the Hill" yearbook creates a great network for their college years.
- You and your kids will get to meet the most accomplished blacks in your city.
- J&J's charitable and social service programs will teach your kids how to give back to others who are less fortunate.
- It sponsors academic and cultural activities that prepare children for the real world.
Since 1938, Jack and Jill has been one of those groups that have remained important to the black community, while simultaneously being almost invisible to most mainstream America. The organization's officers and members insist that they are not elitist. However, the group's past and present roster of members include the most prominent and wealthiest black families in virtually every major city or suburb in the U.S. "Jack and Jill mothers come from diverse backgrounds," says Barbara North Lightning, executive counsel for ABC, Inc., and president of J&J's Metropolitan (Manhattan) chapter. "The common bond being that all of our mothers are dedicated to their families and to providing a better quality of life for the people who live in their communities."  While not a secret society, Jack and Jill does not seek or embrace publicity. Put simply, it is an invitation-only membership organization for black families where mothers are the official members, and children are the principal beneficiaries. There are more than 200 chapters around the country and it is not easy to join. There is no application or 800 number to call; you have to be sponsored by a family who already belongs. The only other way to get in is to marry someone who grew up in the organization.
Members of my family had joined the Memphis chapter of Jack and Jill in the late 1940s. By the time my mother was inducted in New York in the ’60s, my brother and I already had a sense that the organization would play an important role in our lives: a place where we might find our mentors, best friends, prom dates, future colleagues, and possibly, even our spouses. 
The group was founded in Philadelphia by several well-to-do black mothers who simply wanted to establish a local playground for their young children. In many ways, these first women created the mold for the Jack and Jill mothers who followed: bright, successful, and devoted to exposing black children to the best. Most of them were married to physicians, attorneys, or businessmen. The founder, Marion Stubbs Thomas, was a 1930 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the daughter of a surgeon. She and her husband, also a surgeon, had two young daughters. Marion's Philadelphia neighbor, Dorothy Bell Wright, became J&J's first national president, and her résumé also reflected the "Jack and Jill background." An alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, Wright was an accountant and married to the president of the black-owned bank, Citizens and Southern Bank and Trust Company. WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT BEING IN JACK AND JILL?  "As an African-American teen going to a predominantly white school, I find it's good to have a place where we can all socialize and have fun together."
—Cameron Carr, 15
"I love the community service opportunities and the activities with the other chapters. It gives me the chance to associate with other teens of color."
—Elizabeth Archibald, 16 
"I love the leadership opportunities it provides as well as the strong group of friends that function as a support system. We also throw great parties as well as organize community service outings."
—Sean Law, 17 Although these educated mothers lived comfortably, they realized that like their Southern counterparts, their children's opportunities were still limited by segregation in schools, neighborhoods, and institutions. Their goal was to create educational and social programs for their children while also giving them the chance to meet other black children from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. During the next 10 years, additional chapters of Jack and Jill sprang up in New York, Washington, Memphis, Boston, St. Louis, and Chicago. In each of these chapters, some of the most respected black families could be found. WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? "I hope to be a freshman at Northwestern University with a double major of political science and constitutional law. I then hope to go to Harvard Law School." —Trelawny Vermont-Davis, 16  "I will attend college and hope to go on to a prestigious business school. I also want to continue dancing; I currently take hip-hop and modern at both Alvin Ailey and Steps on Broadway dance studio."—Victoria Van Amson, 15 In the early years, Jack and Jill chapters usually included only about 15 to 25 families. Today, a chapter may have as many as 125 families. "Our J&J fathers are very active, but the organization is run by mothers," says Jacqueline Moore Bowles, Jack and Jill's 21st national president. "The activities are built around the children such that most months, there is an age-appropriate academic, social, or cultural event for each Jack and Jill child. For example, in 2009, we will be rolling out a financial literacy program for our children." Bowles runs the organization from the national office in a landmark Washington, D.C., townhouse. Like the presidents before her, Bowles is also highly accomplished. A business school graduate who owns a successful public relations firm in Milwaukee, she sits on several boards, including the University of Wisconsin, and is an active member of two other premier women's groups: the Links and the Girl Friends.  Lightning points out the breadth of activities that her New York chapter has sponsored. "Not only have we had black history events at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the African Museum of Art, but the chapter has attended Alvin Ailey and the opera," she says. "We have also brought the children of our chapter on college tours, ski trips, and to investment banks like Morgan Stanley, so we can introduce them to the ideal of one day working on Wall Street." Lightning's chapter is the nation's second-oldest, and has a history of sponsoring top-drawer events for both its members and the community. "For 10 years," Lightning adds, "we have hosted an educational seminar in New York where we introduce our membership and the public to minority internship and academic programs, as well as to the top independent schools in our city. Our leaders encourage us to create events that also serve the community." In fact, J&J gave nearly a half million dollars to its educational foundation's programs in 2007.
 But Jack and Jill is not only known for educational, cultural, and philanthropic work—it is also known for its social affairs. Last year, I traveled to Cleveland to attend the debutante cotillion of my cousins, Morgan and Aris, who were being presented by their local Jack and Jill chapter. I listened to Morgan talk with the dozen or so other debutantes and escorts about their college plans, and their goals of becoming educators, attorneys, doctors, and business leaders. I realized that whether it was 2008 in Cleveland, back in Los Angeles in the ’70s, or Philadelphia in the 1930s, Jack and Jill was still bringing out the best in black children. I hope my own three children recognize these benefits and pass them on to another generation.
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