The Junior Chamber (Jaycees) was the younger branch of Junior Chamber International that is a “leadership training service and civic organization for young men between the ages of 18 and 40."
In 1946 the Jaycee Creed was adopted which proposed noble ideas and would provide six goals and purposes that expressed the organization's initial belief that a “faith in God gives meaning and purpose to human life” and concludes with the additional belief that “service to humanity is the best work of life!”
Adherence to these principles provided membership and political opportunities to such notable U.S. Jaycees as Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Al Gore, Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.
Even Elvis Presley saw the benefits of being a Jaycee as did serial killer John Wayne Gracy.
On the local level many outstanding leaders got their start in public service by becoming a Jaycee. Heads of international civic clubs (J.G.) and local county governments (D.R.) were all proud members of the group that engaged in worthwhile projects such as building two high rise apartment buildings on West 9th Street (Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.) and the development of Orange Grove Center.
Although the aforementioned members included members of both political parties on the local scene the GOP was the dominant leadership group.
This led to the statement that the Chattanooga Jaycees were “just a Republican incubator” by the late controversial attorney and judge, Democrat Raulston Schoolfield.
The Jaycees were originally an all-male group and its membership peak in 1976 boasted 356,000 young men when its age levels were between 18 and 35 but were changed to allow members to serve the public until age 40.
Although there were auxiliary female memberships known as U.S. Jaycee Women, Jayceetees or Jayceens this came to a halt in 1985 after the United States Supreme Court held that the exclusion of women members did not allow the State of Minnesota to engage in gender discrimination.
As a result, women became Jaycees and Lewis Grizzard found a new topic to endear himself to his non-male readers in his 1984 book “Elvis is Dead and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself” (Peachtree Publishers) and in a 24-page chapter “Women Don’t Wear Jocks” discusses this issue and others in his summary that “the current period in which we’re living is probably the worst time in history to be a man.”
In said chapter he mentions the Jaycees as follows:
I know exactly what they mean. Men enjoy and relish the companionship of other men. They simply need to be off with other men occasionally, with no women around, so they can feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and frustrations and can pass gas without having to apologize for it. (Incidentally, that’s how the Jaycees originally grew to be such a large and popular organization. I think women are going to be terribly disappointed when they join the Jaycees and find out that it was nothing more than a bunch of guys getting together once a week to have some lunch and talk about raising money for charities and passing gas in peace.)
(Lewis Grizzard said it, I didn’t)
P.S. The progressive Chattanooga Jaycees would elect its first lady president, Angie Williams, following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
Jerry Summers