Since most of the members of the club were new to the Columbia area and also were new to each other, many of the activities focused on the development of a friendship and bond among the parents and children.
The course of the Mothers’ Club was charted the first year under the able leadership of Celonia Walden as President, Roberta Briscoe as Vice President, and Grace Dixon as Secretary. The group decided to ask the Baltimore Chapter to sponsor them into Jack and Jill of America by 1970. After connecting with other like-minded moms, on November 12, 1968, thirty interested mothers met at Celonia Walden’s home and founded the “Columbia Mothers’ Club.” At this meeting, Celonia, Roberta and Grace, explained the purpose, aims and objectives of Jack and Jill of America. The three ex-Baltimoreans envisioned a Columbia or Howard County Chapter of Jack and Jill. Celonia Walden, Roberta Briscoe and Grace Dixon, members of the Baltimore Chapter of Jack and Jill, expressed the need for an organization of African American mothers, who desired to work cooperatively in guiding the educational, cultural and social growth and development of their children in the new city of Columbia, Maryland. This chapter’s illustrious history began the summer of 1968.
