The origin of Junior Chamber can be traced as far back as 1910 to the city of St. Louis, Missouri. A young man named Henry Giessenbier and his friends formed the Herculaneum Dance Club, with the main objective being the preservation of conservative dance styles.
Five years later, in 1915, Colonel H.N. Morgan, a prominent St. Louis citizen, inspired the members of the dance club to become more involved in civic issues. Giessenbier and 32 other young men formed the Young Men's Progressive Civic Association (YMPCA) on October 13, 1915. This organization grew to a membership of 750 in less than five months.
The very next year, 1916, saw another change of name as the YMPCA became Junior Citizens, commonly called JCs, which later became Jaycees. The year 1918 marked another change as the JCs were affiliated with the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce and officially became the St. Louis Junior Chamber of Commerce.
After WWI, Giessenbier contacted other cities in the United States with similar young businessmen's groups, and, subsequently, 29 clubs from around the nation formed the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce. Henry Giessenbier was elected the first President of the national organization.
The realization of Junior Chamber International had begun. In 1944 the first international conference was held in Mexico City.
In 1984, an international by-law change admitted women into the regular Chapter membership. Before this, they had been called the Jaycettes.
The Sheboygan Chapter was established in 1924, and has been going strong ever since. Currently, there are about 100 members in the Sheboygan Jaycees.
Areas of Interest
23rd Annual
Big Brothers & Big Sisters Bowling Classic February 11, 18 & 25, 2006 www.sauw.org/partners.htm
