MISSION STATEMENT

     The American Legion Auxiliary Massachusetts Girls State is a week-long hands on program designed to educate young women finishing their Junior Year in High School in the functions of their government, a project in practical Americanism and Citizenship training, with respect for their Country, sense of obligation to community, State and Nation, and a desire to actively participate in and responsibly fulfill their role as citizens.

The Girls State History

Girls State began as one- and two-day sessions in the late 1930's.   Washington D.C. and Delaware are credited with first executing the program.   In 1939, Girls State was expanded to make it a weeklong government education program.   Since 1948, it has been a regular part of the Auxiliary's Americanism curriculum.

In 1945, a dream became a reality.   The members of the Department of Massachusetts, American Legion Auxiliary, made extended and very involved plans to begin an ambitious program called Massachusetts Girls State.

The idea of bringing High School Juniors, from all of the High Schools in the Commonwealth, together for a week – to study government structures, by personal involvement took much planning, dreaming and commitment.   Educators and legislators alike applauded the idea, as the first session met at Bridgewater State Teachers College.   The girls and staff at the initial session were told to bring, not only their linens, but ration books as well, as World War II was winding down and all citizens were subjected to rationing.   Auxiliary staff members, who tried to please the appetites of all 200 girls registered, did the many duties of administration as well as the cooking.

For more than 50 years, the American Legion Auxiliary has succeeded in giving these girls the finest citizenship-training program possible.   The program has grown from a few hundred participants to nearly 20,000 Girls State delegates annually.

Freedom's Foundation at Valley Forge, PA, has long recognized the Auxiliary for the Girls State and Girls Nation program.   It has also received special recognition from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), which has placed this program on its National Advisory List of Contests and Activities .