The History of the Jaycee Creed
About 2,000 shouting, politicking and Jaycees and their wives had taken over the Schroeder Hotel (not the Marc Plaza) and other nearby establishments for the National Jaycee Convention held in Milwaukee in June of 1946. Spirits were booming, for this was the first full-scale Jaycee gathering since 1942 because of the war.
Up and down the main street out to the suburbs, at all hours of the night and day, the fun went on. Cabbies, elevator operators and the Milwaukee natives were all asking the same question: "How much longer can this last?"
All this excitement amazed the bewildered Bill Brownfield, a neophyte Jaycee from Columbus, Ohio. Here was large scale politics with two great men, Seldon Waldo and Grant Thorne, running for National President of the Jaycees.
Morning and afternoon forum sessions were made lively by the same young men who had been on the loose all night, now eager and determined in the planning of governmental affairs, youth welfare, money making activities, and all other interests that make a local Jaycee chapter a success.
There were tears of joy of the Oklahoma Kid who won the Marks Award - more tears in the eyes of Grant Thorne and his wonderful wife who were magnificent in defeat.
All this was something Jaycee Brownfield has never seen before and he liked it.
Returning home, he wanted to tell everybody what the Jaycees were and what they stood for. It was more than any one thing, more than the hometown club, more than one election and one convention. It was even more than all of the Jaycee activities that were carried on across America
and around the world - It was a way of life.Pondering the subject one day while making an auto trip, Brownfield put together within an hour the basic phrases of the Jaycee Creed, a document which was officially adopted by the United States Jaycees in 1947. In 1951, Brownfield added a line which affirms the Jaycees' belief in God, and this now precedes all other parts of the Creed.
Following his writing of the Creed, Brownfield went on the a fine Jaycee career, serving as President of the Ohio Jaycees and as National Vice President. It was for his authorship of the creed, that Brownfield was named an honorary member of the United States Jaycees in 1955. His creed is the perfect expression of the spirit which lives in the hearts of young men and women who want to better the world in which they live.
So, now you know! :)