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LINKS  [[image]] [[caption]]BROOKLYN CHAPTER[[/caption]]

CONRAD HILTON HOTEL
Chicago, Illinois
July 4-9, 1978

HISTORY OF THE BROOKLYN LINKS, INC.
-Hazel Gray

In 1950, Doris Guinier, with the inspiration and guidance of Dorothy Reed (Great New York Chapter), started organizing our Brooklyn Chapter of Links. At that time, it was found that the national constitution farbade existence of two chapters in the same city. It took two years of hard work to bring about the essential changes that would allow for admission of a Brooklyn Chapter.

Thus, it was not until 1952 that our initial installation took place. Great New York Chapter was our sponsor. Installing officers were Estelle Anderson (Westchester Chapter), Ethel Lowry, Dorothy Reed, and Gertrude Thomas (Greater New York Chapter). (Charter members of Brooklyn Chapter are indicated on page two of this brochure.

In our early years, while we sought to assess our identity as a chapter, to find direction for action and to establish priorities, we gave small fund-raising affairs to help local charities such as Brooklyn Home for Aged People, Brooklyn Mental Health, Brooklyn Urban League, N.A.A.C.P., and Red Cross.

In 1958, the tenth anniversary of the National Links, Inc. was celebrated in New York City at the Hotel Belmont Plaza, June 26-28. The Assembly was unique in that is was hosted by the three metropolitan chapters: Brooklyn, Greater New York, and Westchester - the first and only such joint venture given by The Links on a national scale.

Juvenile Delinquency was the great concern in the late fifties. So, in 1959, Brooklyn Chapter, after research and much discussion, developed Salute to Youth. The general formal of the project involved a Testimonial Luncheon honoring scholastically endowed, as well as creatively gifted high school students, between the ages of 14 and 18. Help, advice, and encouragement came from many sources and in many forms. In a full year of preparation, we tapped creative agencies, schools, Federal, state and city government divisions, various community organizations, as well as professionals from the five art fields - Creative Writing, Drama, Dance, Music, and Art. The auditions were open to qualified students from all over the city, but we garnered the intellectually gifted from selected high schools within the Bedford-Stuyvesant area. The first gala Salute to Youth luncheon was held October 1960 at the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn. Four more "Salutes" followed, in 1961, 1963, 1965, and 1967. During those years, we auditioned over fifteen hundred children and showcased two hundred.

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