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Les Gemmes, Incorporated (French; means “the Jewels, and pronounced “lay gem”), was founded in September, 1955 in Norfolk, Virginia by four young ladies who had grown up as friends from childhood. Attending HBCUs in North Carolina and Virginia, Melvine Blakeley, Lena Siler, Queenie Branch, and Inez Mercer Brown were educators as well as visionaries. However, it was in the interest of socializing and monetary saving that they envisioned a club which would ultimately affect positive change, encourage high scholastic achievement, and foster a greater sense of unity among its members.