Girls' Friendly Society

Two Junior Girls' Friendly Society members speak on Voice of America radio program, c.1950.

The Girls' Friendly Society (GFS) began its work in England on January 1, 1875, in response to the massive influx of young women seeking work in urban areas. Mary Elizabeth Townsend, its founder, realized the need for a society to provide aid and guidance for these women, whose long work hours and loss of their home communities left them vulnerable and often friendless. As most of the young women served by the GFS were from the working classes and the “sponsors” (or advising women) were from the middle and upper classes, the Society was initially established to elevate and refine the young women, and to provide them with a safe and trusted place to come with concerns, fears, and dilemmas.

In 1877, the first American branch of the Girls' Friendly Society was established at St. Anne's Church in Lowell, Massachusetts by Elizabeth Edson, the daughter of the rector of St. Anne's. The Lowell textile mills attracted young women in droves, some of whom were in Edson's Sunday School class, and she was concerned about the living and working conditions there. The work of the GFS grew from Edson's parish, attracting women and girls from all around Lowell, until 1879 when the Diocese of Massachusetts became the center of GFS activity in the United States. A central organization was established in 1886; it adopted a constitution in 1893 and was incorporated in 1895.

Dressed for a square dance at the Girls' Friendly Society World Assembly, 1955.

The early GFS provided homes and centers for working women and girls, worked with port chaplains to aid immigrants, and lobbied for labor reform legislation and laws to protect working women. In the 1940s and 1950s, the GFS began to focus on international connections, and the GFS World Council was formed in 1955. The World Council meets every three years with the aim of promoting international understanding by exchanging information and ideas and through organizing international retreats, camps, and assemblies.

The Society has endured several organizational changes, which at times severely affected it.  In 1966, its bylaws were suspended and its assets transferred to the DFMS to be disbursed from a trust fund. In 1979, the Society reorganized under the original 1877 definition.

The crucial purpose of the GFS, no matter the time period, has been the creation of personal connections between women in the program. The official motto, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2), speaks to the Society's enduring mission of forming young women and girls in a community of faith, understanding, and service.

Members of the Japanese Girls' Friendly Society, undated.

Girls' Friendly Society contest winners give former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt a birthday party, 1952.

Chapter members gather from around the world at Sarah Lawrence College in New York for the Girls' Friendly Society World Council, June 24-26, 1957.