The Great Lakes Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, chartered January 30, 1993
The Beginning
On a Sunday afternoon in 1988, Dr. Ella Mae Stapleton called together a group of women who gathered in the lounge of All Saints Episcopal Church. The purpose of the gathering was to gauge the interest in forming a service group which would one day be connected to a national service organization whose goals were dedicated to the improvement and development of communities with particular focus on minority issues.
From that meeting, the Detroit Area Service Organization (“D.A.S.O.”) was born. In 1989 the name of the organization was changed to the Metropolitan Area Service Organization (MASO) to legitimately capture the entire Metropolitan Detroit area in the name of the group, as it was the group’s intent to provide services to the entire metropolitan Detroit community.
The original members of that organization were:
- Marjorie Anthony
- Gail Ayala
- Kathryn Ayala
- Rowena Ayala
- Cecile Keith Brown
- Ann Juanita Covington
- Lillian Covington
- Willetta Cutherell
- Margaret Dooley
- Bessie Ernst
- Barbara Hughes Smith
- Valentine Hill
- Erma Greene
- Marcia Greene
- Rosalind Griffin
- Pauline Grissom
- Gloria Johnson
- Camille Jones
- Rachel Keith
- Glenna Norton
- Valerie Proctor
- Diane Reeder
- Michele Reid Harris
- Shirley Reid
- Yvonne Reid
- Catherine Routt
- Linda Sharp
- Deborah Smart
- Juanita Smart
- Ella Mae Stapleton
- Maureen Stapleton
- Michael Thompson
- Merle Watts
- Sorenia Whittington
- Karen Williams (Smith)
- Barbara Womack
- Roberta Hughes Wright
The primary focus of MASO was to provide service and financial support to the community with particular focus on minority issues. The motto of the organization was “linked by friends who care and share, committed to each other, and to the community, we go forth.”
MASO became an official interest group of The Links, Incorporated in 1990 and on January 30, 1993 MASO was chartered as the Great Lakes Chapter, thus, becoming the fifth Links chapter in the Metro Detroit area and the 242nd chapter in the nation.
In the years since our chapter was established, it has been an honor to build our chain of friendship with women who share the commitment to our community that was embraced by our charter members.