History of Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, Mississippi

In the Spring of 1986, Patty Lewis, Vicki Schoenly (who later became national JA president) and Jolee Hussey began talking about the possibility of the Oxford Service League becoming a Junior Auxiliary Chapter.  After that conversation, work began to see how this could happen.  NAJA headquarters was contacted and our first informational meeting about JA was held at Patty Lewis’ house in September of 1986. Here’s some background on the Oxford Service League and how it (along with the Oxford Junior Ladies  League) evolved into Junior Auxiliary of Oxford:  The Oxford Junior Service Auxiliary was founded in 1978 under the guidelines of Junior Auxiliary, but petitioning was unable to be completed due to the death of the admissions advisor.  At that time the women involved decided to remain intact under the name of Oxford Service League with the goal of serving the needs of the children and elderly of Lafayette County.  

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Due to a decline in the Oxford Service League membership, members of the Oxford Service League in the Fall of 1986 contacted the Oxford Junior Ladies League with the idea of combining the two organizations and petitioning Junior Auxiliary to become a chapter.  The two groups met on September 23, 1986 in the home of Patty Lewis to listen to a presentation from members of the Tupelo Junior Auxiliary Chapter and NAJA Headquarters.  After a presentation and discussion of the benefits of affiliating with Junior Auxiliary, it was decided that the Oxford Service League would like to disband and affiliate with JA .  The Oxford Junior Ladies League decided to remain intact (as a social organization only) and also affiliate with JA.  So, all members of both group were invited to join the newly organized group and additional names were sought for possible membership.    On November 3, 1986, interested women from both groups met again at the home of Patty Lewis and voted to formally petition Junior Auxiliary for membership. We officially became a provisional chapter at the NAJA Convention in May of 1987.  We were a provisional chapter for 2 years and got our charter in 1989 making us an official Junior Auxiliary Chapter.  At the time of our petitioning we had 44 members.    

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Early projects that were successful include: Art Print, Saturday with Santa, adopt-a-family, tutoring at Bramlett and Oxford Elementary, and clothes closets at Bramlett, Oxford Elementary and Lafayette Elementary schools. 

Charter Members of Junior Auxiliary of Oxford include:  Barbara Collier, Marty Dunbar, Teresa Flautt, Jolee Hussey,

Susan Phillips, Beth Rosson, Lisa Tollison, Beth Tosh, Debra Weems, Julie Wilson, Trish Cousley, Beth Estes,

Jenny Hunsicker, Kim Phillips, Vicki Schoenly, Sue Turner.  

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