The purpose of the YWCC was to aid in actively sustaining the high intellectual, moral, and physical standard of life among young women of Evanston and provide comfortable, happy homes for those that traveled to work in Evanston.
History
The YWCC began as the Girls’ League in 1913, orginally just providing a room at 810 Davis St. where working women could go during their break. Then, in the early 1920s, they bought a house at 615 Church St. and opened a rooming house for working women. It was a place where young women who were working in the area and did not have homes or families nearby could gain a sense of community and companionship with other women in the same position. On July 25, 1919, the organization bought “Parkes House” at 1458-60 Maple Ave, and in 1920 the Women’s Club of Evanston gave its 615 Church St. property to the league to use as its Club Headquarters. On October 28, 1922, the Girls’ League officially changed its name to the YWCC. In June 1951, there was a final meeting of the directors of the YWCC and they decided they could no longer maintain the organization and left the house at 1458 Maple Ave to the YWCA.
Importance
The Girl’s League, later the Young Woman’s Community Club, was founded in 1913. It operated a social center at 820 Davis Street for young working women to go to on their lunch hours or days off. In 1922, the club opened a house at 615 Church Street as a boarding house “for the young women from out of town who work in our city.” The goal was to maintain a high “intellectual, moral and physical standard of life among young women.” Residents paid a small amount for rent and had regular household chores. In 1950, the organization merged with the YWCA.