The Junior League has had a trail-blazing legacy in environmental advocacy. Over the years, work by various Leagues has called attention to ecological hazards that threatened the livelihood of a community or the health of its inhabitants. The collective power and enduring impact of a group of women united behind a single cause can be best illustrated in the documentary film “Fate of a River: Apathy or Action,” which was produced by the Junior League of Toledo in 1965. Carol Bentley, who worked in partnership with the League on the film, wound up testifying at the state and federal hearings on water quality that would lead to the development and passage by Congress of the Clean Water Act in 1972. Beyond that ground-breaking legislation, there were many other results of the League’s work that have had lasting effects on communities across the United States.
Learn more about the work of the Junior League:
More Than "Just" Playgrounds and Gardens
Stiff Penalties For Record Spill
What Happened After Katrina Was No Longer Front Page News?
Five Years After Katrina: Lessons From New Orleans
A Legacy Of Environmental Activism
What Can One Person Do In The Face Of Environmental Disaster?
If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try It A Different Way