Our History

Our Founding

In December 1920, Helen Wood Green (later Mrs. James Imbrie), who had friends involved in the Junior League of New York, held a meeting at her home on West State Street in Trenton, NJ, to which she invited 25 of her friends residing in the area.

A representative from New York City was there to explain what a Junior League did. It was decided then that this group would form the Junior League of Trenton whose purpose would be “to give to its members the opportunity to obtain a knowledge of the social, literary, and industrial conditions of their city; of the fields of social and civic work which were open to them; and by classes, discussions and social gatherings to equip them to become factors for good in their community and to make efficient their volunteer services.”

With Miss Green as its first president and the Junior Leagues of Baltimore and New York as its sponsors, the Junior League of Trenton became one of 30 members of the Association of Junior Leagues of America in February 1921.

The organization, founded as the Junior League of Trenton in 1921, changed its name to Junior League of Central Delaware Valley in 1974 to better reflect the wide area served. However, as the Princeton area grew over the next 15 years, more League members identified with “Greater Princeton” than “Central Delaware Valley,” which was often confused with being in Delaware. Thus, the League became the Junior League of Greater Princeton in 1991.