Elizabeth Carter was born August 28, 1895 at “Sweet Home,” the Carter family residence. She was the daughter of George R. Carter, 2nd Territorial Governor of Hawaii, and Helen Strong Carter, daughter of Eastman Kodak president Henry A Strong. George Carter was a descendant of the missionary family Judd on his mother’s side.
Elizabeth Carter was a founder of the Junior League of Honolulu. She lobbied for the preservation of Queen Emma Summer Palace in Honolulu and Hulihe‘e Palace in Kailua-Kona.
Her husband Washington Everardus Bogardus (b. Brooklyn NY Jan 1, 1896) was a real estate salesman in 1920 Honolulu, who eventually became a prominent banker with Bishop & Co. They were married Oct. 20, 1917 in New York City. He had attended the same boys school as David Kalākaua.
The Junior League of Honolulu (JLH) was established in 1923 by a membership of 50 young women led by President Elizabeth Carter Bogardus, who wanted to address the needs and community challenges of Greater Honolulu. For the last 95 years, the JLH has developed the size, scope, and outreach of its community service projects—financed by successful fundraisers—as well as volunteer leadership training and experience. The League has trained and educated some of the most well-respected leaders in Honolulu, and helped solve some of our community’s most pressing issues. Women of all backgrounds and ages who are committed to voluntarism and strengthening their leadership skills are welcome.
THE HISTORY OF THE JUNIOR LEAGUE
The Junior League was founded by Mary Harriman in 1901 in New York City. It was during her freshman year at Barnard College year that Mary, along with her classmate and friend Nathalie Henderson, had the idea to organize her classmates and peers to move beyond a “debutante life” into more purposeful activity. Nathalie later recalled that Mary’s concept was to recruit young women from all religious backgrounds to go into New York’s settlement houses and do frontline social work among the needy. Thus, in 1901, was born “The Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements,” the organization that would become the New York Junior League.
