A Lasting League Legacy and Community Commitment

By Kristen Archer

Campbell Frank did not always think the Junior League Club, and a board member of the Children’s Hospital Child of Washington (JLW) was for her. This seems ironic, Health Center. She also contributed to the history of the Sulgrave given her family’s ties to the League—her maternal Club and St. Albans School and was the “Topics” columnist for grandmother served as President of the Junior League the Washington Times from 1982 to 1985. of Portland, ME, and her mother was a member of the Though Waldrop Frank’s accomplishments were numerous, the Junior League of the City of New York. value of The City of Washington cannot be overstated. Not only

It was Frank’s paternal grandmother’s commitment to was the book groundbreaking for the time, but it visually docuJLW, however, which cemented her family’s legacy with the League mented a deep history. The City of Washington featured images and her connection to Washington, DC, which persists today. from private collections from well-connected League members

Judith “Judy” Lanier Waldrop Frank, a native Washingtonian, and Waldrop Frank’s Washingtonian roots, never previously been served as President of JLW from 1966 to 1968. Writing and editing, released to the public at large. skills she would employ throughout her time with JLW and beyond, Campbell Frank describes her grandmother as an enterprising were paramount in Waldrop Frank’s family. Her father had served as person—very social, innovative, energized—who loved entertaining. editor-in-chief of the Washington Times-Herald. After graduating from When Frank was a child, she says she treasured the feeling of her Bryn Mawr College in 1953, Waldrop Frank won a contest sponsored grandmother treating her as an individual and an equal. Frank recalls by Condé Nast and became a writer for Vogue magazine. joining her grandmother on trips to visit her adult friends, run errands,

In 1955, Waldrop Frank married Dr. Randolph Adams Frank Sr.; and attend activities. the couple had three children, the youngest of whom is Frank’s father, Lanier Frank. Growing up in the family home in the Spring Valley section of Washington, DC, he recalls attending countless meetings at the Klingle Mansion, JLW’s Headquarters at the time. Frank has shared many memories of his mother’s term as president of JLW and her work as an editor on The City of Washington: An Illustrated History. He fondly recalls a 25-foot dining table was brought into the family living room and filled from end to end with typewriters to produce the book.

Waldrop Frank would go on to edit the Nineteenth Century magazine, published by the Victorian Society of America, and serve as a member of St. David’s Episcopal Church, the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, the Sulgrave Club, and the Chevy Chase Judith Frank with the Chairman of the Board of Security Storage Company of Washington (left), and Club. Over the years, she has also served the 1966 Holiday Shop Cover (right). At the time, Junior League members would go ask for sponsoras co-chair of the Washington Antiques ships in person and travel with a photographer to secure the images. This image is one of twenty that Show, president of the Evergreen Garden appeared in the 1966 brochure.

Washington Post news release featuring The City of Washington.

Having grown up in the same family home in Spring Valley, Frank’s first introduction to JLW came at a young age. She says her family’s “strongest friendships today are a result of [her] grandmother’s Junior League involvement 50 years ago.” Patricia Marks, who served as president after Waldrop Frank, is one of those close family friends. “Mother Marks,” as Frank affectionately calls her, still spends Thanksgiving with the Franks at the family’s cottage in Maryland every year. The family is also close to Polly Mitchell, who served as JLW president prior to Waldrop Frank.

After living abroad, Frank returned to Washington desiring connection to a community beyond her high school and college network. But, she did not know where to begin. Working as Director of Communications and Fundraising Events at Rosemount Center, a nonprofit where JLW volunteers annually, Frank was reintroduced to the community she knew all along. In Frank’s eyes, the Rosemount Center’s Fall Fiesta Fundraiser would not be possible without the help of the League. This was her ‘ah-ha’ moment. She knew she had to be a part of JLW.

Since joining, Frank has fully immersed herself in the JLW experience and shared commonalities with her grandmother. Her new member mini placement was at the Archives Committee, a choice partially inspired by her grandmother’s work on The City of Washington. Now, as a first-year active member of the League, Frank is proud of the friendships she has made and hopes to carry on her family’s traditions and connections to the community. •

Congressional Record review of The City of Washington from 1977.

Former JLW president, Patricia Marks, with Campbell Frank during Thanksgiving of 2018.