Quota Baton Rouge History

The year was 1935. A post card could be mailed for a penny and lunch could be purchased for 25 cents! Sixteen women, representing various sectors in the Baton Rouge economy, met at Anderson’s Tea Room that year and chartered Quota International of Baton Rouge. Early members were pharmacists, a college dean, an attorney, business owners, and a life insurance underwriter. Since 1935, Quota International of Baton Rouge has significantly impacted the Baton Rouge community by bringing together professional women to organize and lead community projects that improve the lives of those who need a helping hand.

In 1951, Quota initiated the Open Door Tour, a guided tour of private homes in the Baton Rouge area that had exceptional interior and architectural design features. A major fundraiser, the Open Door Tour continued as an annual event for 66 years. Revenue generated through Quota events such as the Open Door Tour contributed to building projects at both Woman’s Hospital and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. In addition, Quota was a founding member of the Baton Rouge Speech and Hearing Foundation renamed The Emerge Center in 2014. This organization impacts the lives of 1,000 people annually and specializes in services for children with autism. Quota has also opened higher education to the deaf and hard of hearing in Louisiana with a $100,000 contribution to LSU to start a counselor and interpreter program for deaf students seeking a university credential. This program now attracts students from around the nation. A second project at LSU has been an endowed Top 100 Scholarship.

Quota pioneered Infant Hearing Screening first in Baton Rouge, then across Quota’s international sister clubs in 14 countries. Babies in India are now being tested for hearing at birth due to the leadership of Quota Baton Rouge. In the initial year of Girls Hope in the Baton Rouge community, Quota donated both funding and service hours for this residential program for promising young women that offers mentoring, scholarships, and opportunities to attend and succeed in college.
Over the past few decades, Quota has supported various programs at Myriam’s House, America’s House, Habitat for Humanity, the Baton Rouge Child Advocacy Center and the YWCA Istrouma Teen Learning Center. Quota has contributed funding as well as the time and talents of its members to help in each of these projects.

Today, there is an annual, average membership of 65 women, with no staff support, who annually change lives for children, disadvantaged women, the deaf and hard of hearing, and those with speech difficulties in the Greater Baton Rouge area.