San Francisco – In 1924, seven young female trailblazers created a club to raise money to help flood and famine victims in China.
The group was the first of its kind – created at a time when the organizers themselves weren’t welcomed in San Francisco.
They met at the Chinese Congregational Church, which is still located on Walter U Lum Place near Portsmouth Square.
Since then, the Square and Circle Club has been on a mission to give back to the community. It is the oldest Chinese and Asian American women’s service organization in the country.
“We’re talking about a group of women, or young ladies who grew up during the Chinese Exclusion era,” said co-president Lorraine Dong. “So it’s a very important part of our history to know how minorities survived in a society, where they have been discriminated and definitely neglected.”