| I picked this project because it sounded pretty uncomplicated and quick -- send out a hundred or so letters, collate the responses. Little did we know. |
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At the 1999 LLLI Conference’s Alumnae Tea, the Alumnae Association wanted to honor LLL’s “second tier founders”—those women, inspired by the seven Founders, who got La Leche League started locally throughout the world. The problem was that these individuals had not been identified by the organization.
Some Areas clearly knew who their founder was. Others had undertaken searches as part of a 20th, 25th, or 30th Area-level anniversary. But nowhere was there a list of local founders.
When the Alumnae Conference Committee met to select projects, I picked this one because it sounded pretty straight-forward, uncomplicated, and quick—send out a hundred or so letters, collate the responses.
Little did we know.
We decided to work through the individual Areas and Affiliates, writing to each current ACL or Affiliate Director to enlist her help in the search. We felt it was important that each Area have the final word on its founder. This proved to be a wiser choice than we realized at the start, because for some Areas, identification was far from simple.
In the fall of 1998, we sent out search letters, letting each ACL know what we were looking for and why. It was truly exciting—and remained so throughout this project—when the responses started coming in from all over the world. Areas who had an easily identified founder(s) seemed very pleased to have her (them) honored by the Alumnae. Areas who needed to do a search said they were grateful for the opportunity to seek out this information.
Not surprisingly, a number of challenges arose. There were geographic/administrative issues when Areas had combined or split over the years. And of course as more Leaders learned about the search, we got the inevitable conflicting information. On the other hand, the Area history that frequently accompanied these letters was absolutely fascinating.
As the Conference drew near, we sent invitations to the confirmed Area/Affiliate founders.
We also asked each to share a few memories of the beginnings of LLL in her Area. These responses were awesome! Stories of language problems, cultural barriers, very small and struggling Groups, Groups that started out with 50-plus people at the first meeting, Leaders who traveled many miles to lead meetings—you name it. The constant force throughout (not surprising in LLL, but heartwarming nonetheless) was the deep desire of each of these women to help other mothers breastfeed. Many wrote about their pride in LLL and the lifelong impact their leadership had on their lives not only as a mother but as a woman.
Where are we now with this project? We consider it a work-in-progress. Some Areas were only able to make a “best guess;” others made even less progress. And some have not yet responded. We hope that the recognition of these local founders may spark the memories of other Leaders, who will get in touch with the Alumnae Association or their current ACL and add their recollections to LLL’s history.
—Judy Steele, Illinois USA [Continuum, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1999] |