Columbus, GA Chapter History
Founded in 1938, Jack and Jill boast the specific mission of nurturing future African American leaders.
In 1965, a local group of young women under the leadership of Mary Lee Bussey, Alice Fowlkes, and Laura Mae Strickland sought to establish a chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. in Columbus, Georgia. They shared this idea with the Links, Inc., a national organization dedicated to promoting and engaging in educational, civic and intercultural activities to enrich the lives of its members and their community. Together, they collaborated and brought together other interested mothers with children between the ages of 2 and 19.
This effort expanded to seventeen mothers coming together to organize the Columbus, GA Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. in 1966. The group became chartered members in July 1967 at the home of Mary Lee Bussey. The Columbus, GA Charter Founders are Helen Burnhart, Thelma Baskin, Mary Frances Beckett, Juanita Booker, Mary Lee Bussey, Josephine Baugh, Online Christian, Elizabeth Gibson, Ruth Lewis, Sally Lunsford, Inez Morris, Lula Lunsford Odom, Gertha Stafford, Mary Frances Stephens, Mildred Terry, Jackie Whittlesey and Jeannette Wilson.
Helen Barnhart served as the chapter’s first president. Her successors were Mary Lee Bussey, Juanita Booker, June Wright, Annie Ruth Davis, Veronis Hall, Mattie Wright, Willie Wheeler, Marie DeRamus, Mildred Miles, Ann H. Davis, Creola Howard, Cynthia Gail Simpson, Sharon Jamison, Lula Lunsford Huff, Betty Thoms McBride, Jimmi N. Graham, Gail Simpson, Patricia Eldridge, Dolly Baker, Kornisha McGill Brown, Audrey Tillman, Pamela Watson and the current chapter president, Gina Daise. Mrs. Veronis Hall and Mrs. Juanita Booker served the organization on the national and regional levels. In 2020, Mother Kornisha McGill Brown was elected as the 27th National President of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., and she was reelected for a second term in 2022. National President Kornisa McGill Brown serves more than 245 chapters nationwide.