History of GCW
Women Saying 'Yes' To God: A Century of Service
by Margaret McDonell, April 2005
In 1906, the same year that the foundation for the Cathedral of Saint Paul was excavated, a group of women in St. Luke’s parish in Saint Paul formed an organization of women to provide assistance to people who were overlooked or forgotten. Nearly a century later The Guild of Catholic Women (GCW), a philanthropic organization, continues to exist extending services to people living in the greater Saint Paul area.
Since GCW’s founding a variety of services have been provided by its members.
In 1908 the Guild opened a Travelers Aid Bureau to meet Catholic immigrants arriving in Saint Paul and provided for them, when needed, temporary shelter and loans of money.
In 1911, upon the request of a juvenile court judge, the Guild provided counseling and direction for wayward young women and in that year alone found 173 jobs for these women.
The Saint Paul Y.W.C.A. in 1912 asked the Guild to help young working women from out-of-town. A home for thirty women, with a housemother and a cook, was established at 574 St. Peter Street. In 1914 the Guild bought a house at 215 Nelson (now Marshall Avenue) in order to provide more comfortable and pleasant surroundings for these young women.
In 1914, the Guild established the Catholic Infant Home (later Seton House). The Infant House was a responsibility the Guild shared with the Minneapolis based League of Catholic Women until 1922 when the Sisters of St. Joseph assumed control. Seton Center is now operated by Catholic Charities, an organization the Guild helped found in 1920 as the Bureau of Catholic Charities.
Weekly visits were being made to patients at Ancker Hospital (now Regions Hospital), the city and county hospital, and in 1915 a picnic was held for patients. Personal gifts were given to residents of the Home of the Good Shepherd and Ramsey County Farm.
