The New Century Guild for Working Women was initially a committee of the New Century Club. It was founded in 1882 by Eliza Sproat Turner (1826-1903). The Guild offered innovative vocational training, classes and social opportunities for working women. The Guild soon became a separate organization, but retained close ties to the Club. Beginning in 1887, it used its nationally circulated publication the New Century Journal for Working Women to raise awareness about issues impacting women in the workforce. In the 1890s, the Journal changed names to the New Century Journal of Women’s Interests with its motto “Educational, Industrial, Social.” It included articles, essays, poems, and riddles, as well as information on classes offered by the Guild. By 1892 the New Century Guild’s classes and programs had grown to the point that the group needed its own building. So, in 1893, the Guild’s leadership created the New Century Trust as the incorporated body of the Guild, a move that enabled the Trust to accumulate substantial funds to purchase the Guild’s first building. The New Century Trust is still in existence. As for the Journal, it became a Guild newsletter and ceased publication around 2001. The Journal was published 10 months out of the year excluding July and August.

New Century Trust records, Collection 3097 (explore contents)