Jack and Jill of America

In January 1938, Marion Turner Stubbs organized a group of 12 mothers in Philadelphia, to establish a social and cultural union for their children, who were excluded from many activities due to segregation. The group was named Jack and Jill and grew into a leadership organization for mothers and their children. The organization aims to improve the quality of life of children, particularly African-American children. The second chapter of Jack and Jill was established in New York City in 1939. Its third chapter was formed in Washington, D.C. in 1940. It is headquartered at 1930 17th Street NW in Washington, D.C. == Symbols ==

The society was named for the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. Its publication, Up the Hill, was first issued in May 1948 and is a yearbook of the organization's members. == Membership ==

Membership in Jack and Jill is by invitation and is selective. Each chapter has limited membership of around 45, with new members only being admitted when a current member's child graduates from high school. Historically, its members were well-educated professional women, such as academics, doctors, and lawyers, or were the wives of CEOs, doctors, funeral directors, lawyers, ministers, professors, or teachers. In 1978, The Washington Times noted that the true sign of making it in Washington, D.C.'s Black society was being chosen for membership in Jack and Jill. Children can be members until they graduate from high school but can rejoin after they marry and have their own family. == Philanthropy ==

In 1968, the organization created its philanthropic arm, the Jack and Jill of America Foundation, incorporated in the State of Illinois. The foundation has been responsible for the origin and funding of many educational and charitable projects benefiting children and families in communities across the United States. It has contributed millions of dollars to Black-focused organizations and projects, including: Africare, the American Red Cross, the United Negro College Fund, the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the March of Dimes, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. == Criticism ==

Jack and Jill has been criticized by many African Americans as "a bunch of elitist, bourgeois, light-skinned Blacks who want to be white". • Jalina Porter, political advisor • Emily Brown Portwig (1896–1960), pharmacist and clubwoman • Charles Rangel (1930–2025), politician • Phylicia Rashad (born 1948), actress • Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), baseball player • Gertrude Schalk (1906–1977), writer and editor • Betty Shabazz (1934–1997), educator and civil rights activist; wife of Malcolm X • Juliana Stratton (born 1965), politician • Marion Turner Stubbs (1910–1994), pianist; founder of Jack and Jill • Thyrsa Frazier Svager (1930–1999), mathematician • Alberta Banner Turner (1909–2008), academic • Mary Parks Washington (1914–2019), painter • Lynn Whitfield (born 1953), actress • Andrew Young (born 1932), politician == References ==