Every year, American mah jongg players purchase a new card from the National Mah Jongg League, listing the winning hands they’ll use for the next 12 months. For generations, these card sales have also helped raise millions of dollars for charitable causes.
Now, a new fundraising campaign, “Buy a Card for Dorothy,” is turning that tradition back on itself: using sales of the League’s 2027 cards to honor Dorothy S. Meyerson, one of the women who helped establish the American game and its charitable fundraising tradition nearly 90 years ago.
The campaign seeks to establish a permanent memorial in Forest Hills, where Meyerson lived, developed her influential rules for mah jongg, and operated a nationwide business from her home. Its goals include a public mural honoring Meyerson, an honorary street co-naming of “Mah Jongg Way” on the block where her former home still stands, and community celebrations of her legacy.
“Forest Hills celebrates its history,” said Barry Joseph, a local author and organizer of the campaign. “Helen Keller spent her final years here. She has a mural. The Ramones got their start here. They have a mural. It’s time Dorothy S. Meyerson had one, too.”
The Woman Who Helped Create American Mah Jongg
When ‘mahjong’ arrived in America from China in the early 1920s, it became an overnight sensation. But the craze eventually faded, in part because competing rules made it difficult for players to share a common game.
Dorothy S. Meyerson helped change that.
A Jewish woman living in Forest Hills, Meyerson developed her own standardized rules for the game, building on versions still being played in the community. As a founding member of her synagogue’s Sisterhood (Forest Hills Jewish Center), she began teaching the game in her home as a fundraiser, distributing printed copies of her rules to participants.
In 1937, her efforts soon caught the attention of Macy’s, which published her rules and hosted her free weekly mah jongg lessons at its flagship Manhattan department store. For nine years, she taught there every Thursday afternoon.
Meyerson subsequently expanded her teaching model to department stores across America, training representatives to teach the game and sell her rulebook. Her rules remained in publication, with annual updates, until her death in 1971.
In 1937, Meyerson joined three other Jewish women to establish the National Mah Jongg League. As its founding vice president and longtime Chairman of Standardization, she helped shape the distinctly American version of the Chinese game, including the League’s annual selection of winning hands.
Today, American mah jongg continues to bring players together around tables across the country, particularly within Jewish communities, where the game became a beloved intergenerational tradition.
For her role in shaping the game, the memorial campaign celebrates Meyerson as the “Mother of American Mah Jongg” and Forest Hills as the birthplace of the American variation.
Bringing Dorothy’s Fundraising Tradition Full Circle
Since 1937, the National Mah Jongg League has published an annual card listing the official winning hands for that year. These cards have also become a powerful fundraising mechanism.
Under the League’s longstanding Collector program, individuals and organizations gather card orders on behalf of players. The League then sends a charitable contribution based on the number of cards sold to an eligible charity chosen by the Collector.
For the 2027 card, the contribution is $7 per card, at no additional cost to the purchaser.
Joseph, who is serving as the campaign’s Collector, is inviting mah jongg players nationwide to purchase their 2027 cards through the campaign. Proceeds will support the memorial project through the Reform Temple of Forest Hills, which is serving as its fiscal conduit.
The deadline for campaign orders is January 15, 2027. Standard cards cost $16, and large-print cards cost $18. The League will mail the cards directly to purchasers in spring 2027.
“One of the most remarkable things about Dorothy’s story is that it begins with a fundraiser for her synagogue’s Sisterhood,” said Joseph. “Now, nearly 90 years later, we’re using the fundraising model she helped establish to bring that story full circle. We’re asking players across the country to honor the woman who helped make their weekly games possible.”
“As a boy I remember going to the cemetery with my father and watching him show his respect by laying honeysuckles, roses, and mah jongg tiles on and around her tombstone,” recalled Jeffrey Meyerson of Salt Lake City, Dorothy’s grandson. “I and my cousins are blown away by this amazing outpouring of attention to honor her in such a public way.”
From a Neighborhood Discovery to a National Campaign
Joseph, a longtime Forest Hills resident currently writing a book about how a century of Jewish women built community through a Chinese game, discovered Meyerson’s story while researching the origins of American mah jongg.
He was astonished to learn that two of the League’s four founding leaders had lived just blocks from his home.
“I had no idea that such an important chapter of American cultural history unfolded right here in my neighborhood,” Joseph said. “I know the streets Dorothy walked, the synagogue she attended, and even the sanctuary where her daughter was married. The more I learned, the more I realized that writing about her would not be enough. I wanted my neighbors, and mah jongg players everywhere, to know her name.”
The project has already attracted support from Meyerson’s family, historians, neighborhood leaders, and mah jongg advocates, including Dorothy’s grandchildren: Allison Davis, Jeffrey Meyerson, Douglas Meyerson, and Jill Barzilay; Annelise Heinz, author of Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture; local historian Michael Perlman; and Linda Fisher, founder of Mahjongg at Bryant Park.
The Reform Temple of Forest Hills is also supporting the project and serving as its fiscal conduit. “The Chinese tile game of Mah Jongg has become an essential part of Jewish life and socializing,” said RTFH Rabbi Mark Kaiserman. “Discovering that it has American roots right here in Forest Hills is exciting and deserves great celebration. Dorothy Meyerson is a Jewish icon that deserves to be recognized, celebrated, and appreciated in our community alongside other local superstars such as The Ramones, Spider-Man, and Helen Keller.”
Supporter Michael Perlman of the Rego-Forest Preservation Council, said, “It is amazing how residents’ historic pride, community spirit, and the power of creativity, can turn a banal wall into a stunning educational resource and unifying destination, which signifies how public art is a gift for the masses. I am grateful for this eye-opening community initiative launched by Barry Joseph, a creative visionary and a humanitarian dynamo. Forest Hills, a breeding ground for historic architecture, culture, and the arts, is where hidden gems such as a legendary game’s launching pad, are being rediscovered.”
The campaign’s organizers hope the memorial will introduce Meyerson’s extraordinary legacy to future generations while recognizing the Chinese origins of the game and the Jewish women who helped develop its distinctively American form.
How to Participate
Mah jongg players anywhere in the United States can participate by purchasing their 2027 National Mah Jongg League cards through the “Buy a Card for Dorothy” campaign.
Standard card: $16
Large-print card: $18
Contribution toward the memorial: $7 per card
Campaign order deadline: January 15, 2027
Expected card delivery: April 2027, directly from the National MahJonggLeague
To learn more about the memorial campaign or order cards: tinyurl.com/ThankYouDorothy
About the Campaign
“Buy a Card for Dorothy” is a community-led campaign organized by Forest Hills author Barry Joseph to honor Dorothy S. Meyerson, a co-founder of the National Mah Jongg League and a pioneering figure in the development of American Mah Jongg. The campaign seeks to establish a permanent public memorial in Forest Hills including a proposed mural and honorary street co-naming, while increasing public awareness of Meyerson’s contributions to American culture. The Reform Temple of Forest Hills is serving as a supporter and fiscal conduit for the project.
Dorothy S. Meyerson, co-founder of the National Mah Jongg League and a pioneering figure in the development of American Mah Jongg.