We believe that through the National Junior Classical League:

We will gain an active appreciation and understanding of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome, thereby better enabling us as individuals to interpret and appraise the our own world.

We have a sound structure which provides a sound basis for expansion of our horizons and perspectives, intellectually, socially, and esthetically.

We have a viable organization which can effectively create in others a sense of awareness, interest, and appreciation as far as the value of the classics is concerned.

What is the Junior Classical League?

The National Junior Classical League is an organization of junior and senior high school students sponsored by the American Classical League. It is composed of local and state chapters and is the largest Classical organization in the world today. Its purpose is to encourage an interest in and an appreciation of the language, literature, and culture of ancient Greece and Rome and to impart an understanding of the debt of our own culture to that of Classical antiquity.

Highlights of the National Junior Classical League

The Junior Classical League had its inception at a Council Meeting of the American Classical League in 1927, but it did not come into action until 1936 when Miss Dorothy Park Latta was appointed director and chair with the headquarters established at New York University.

In 1936, the first chapter was formed at the high school in Danville, New York.

By 1937, 500 students had become members of the JCL.

In 1941, Texas held the first state convention at the University of Texas.

In 1944, the first annual membership report was issued. There were 9,288 members in 328 chapters.

In 1948, the NJCL headquarters were moved to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Miss Estella Kyne became the second National JCL Chair. Also the JCL birthday card made from a linoleum block and the JCL sticker in miniature were first offered for sale by the Service Bureau.

In 1952, Volume 1, No. 1 of Torch: US the official national JCL bulletin, was published. Billie Jo Payne, the editor of the Texas Torch, was the editor of this first printed national bulletin.

In 1953, an organizational meeting for a National JCL Convention was held at Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, from June 18 to June 20. More than a hundred student delegates from 26 chapters in 11 states met under the chair of Veda McCray of Middletown, Ohio. At this organizational Convention meeting, a constitution presented by Gene Perry was adopted and national officers were elected.

The title of the national publication was amended from Torch: US to its present form, Torch: U.S.

In 1954, the first National Convention was held June 13-15, at Incarnate Word High School in San Antonio, Texas, under the sponsorship of Mildred Sterling, Texas state/provincial chair.

Attendance at the first convention was 474 delegates from 77 chapters in 18 states.

In September 1954, the JCL was listed for the first time in the "Where to Find It" directory of Senior Scholastic; it was also listed for the first time in the monthly magazine International Conventions.

In 1955, the delegates at the convention voted to accept and retain unaltered the JCL Creed as written in 1937 by Dorothy Park Latta and printed on all chapters charters sent out from national headquarters. The music for the JCL Creed was contributed by the Music Department at St Vincent's College in Latrobe, PA.

Also, JCL programs from widely separated chapters featured the Language Teacher's Notebook, distributed freely to high schools throughout the nation by Scott, Foresman and Company.

In 1956, the twentieth anniversary of JCL, presentations at the convention of June 24-26 included sessions on "Practical Uses of Latin" with experienced professional leaders as consultants; an evening program with the theme "The Labors of Hercules," and included a Roman banquet for over 900 guests, all in Roman costume, held on a lawn. A highlight of this 1956 meeting was the announcement of the ACL offer of five national $100-scholarships to JCL-members entering college to study Latin.

In 1958, Miss Belle Gould became the third National Chair.

In 1960, the National Senior Classical League (NSCL) was established at the seventh annual National Junior Classical League convention at the University of New Mexico. On August 9 of that year, twenty people labeled the "Ambassadors", voted to call their organization The Senior Classical League.

The 1960's saw a marked increase in contest offerings at JCL conventions, including additional academic tests, costumes, oratory, and Olympics. Sweepstakes were begun.

JCL sponsored several trips to Europe beginning in 1964.

1963-64 saw JCL's peak membership: 107,086. The largest national convention ever held was at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana in 1964. Nearly 2400 attended.

JCL officially became the National JCL in 1966-67. The following year lifetime membership dues of twenty five cents per person became yearly membership dues, which were increased to fifty cents in 1974-75.

Certamen was introduced to NJCL in 1972.

The National JCL Committee was expanded to twelve members in 1974. Longtime National Chair Miss Belle Gould died that same year and was succeeded by David Levy. When Mr. Levy died in 1980, the National Committee began a policy of electing its officers for two-year terms.

The National Latin Exam, co-sponsored by JCL and ACL, was begun in 1978 on four levels with under 10,000 participants.

For NJCL's fiftieth anniversary in 1986 a history of the organization was written and distributed to sponsors at the national convention at Indiana University.

In 1988 the NJCL Latin Honor Society was established. Students with A averages were given certificates and seals to signify their success. The names of 4811 students were sent in by 355 teachers.

In 1994, the JCL Pen Pal Program computerized. A computer firm matched applicants. Over 1800 JCL members participated.

Beginning in 1995, each sponsor attending the NJCL convention received not only a copy of all academic tests, but also a copy of the preceding year's Certamen questions.
In 1997, previous year's questions were made available for purchase, the profits of which were used to donate Certamen machines to chapters needing them.