1893

A group of local church women meet to form a Christian outreach organization.

1894

The Young Women's Christian Association is chartered. The YWCA board rents a nine-room house at 712 N. Third Street to operate Reading Rooms and a Noon Rest program where young working girls could safely come to eat their lunches. Membership fee is $1.00 per year.

1895

YWCA membership becomes so large that it is necessary to expand the premises by renting the house next door, 710 N. Third Street. Here, the residence program begins, offering two rooms to rent to working girls at $5 and $6 per month.

1898

The YWCA moves to a new, larger facility on Third and Herr Streets. Membership in 1899 is 440; 369 active members, 25 associates, 40 sustaining and 6 life members. A young woman can only become an active member by belonging to an evangelical church, but "any woman of good moral character" can become an associate member.

1901

The YWCA holds sex education classes for women.

1903

Paid instructors, rather than volunteers, begin to teach educational classes.

1905

The YWCA moves to a building on Fourth and Walnut Streets, where it becomes a city landmark. Later additions enlarge it, from the original small brick house into the eight-story YWCA building most Harrisburgers remember as "the YWCA".

1908

The YWCA develops a nurses directory and on-call service for physicians.

1912

Fund drive -- 200 workers raise $102,166 in ten days.

1914

The new building is dedicated and the YWCA boasts 2,567 members.

1920

The Phyllis Wheatley Branch opens with 97 charter members in one room of a storefront at 800 Cowden Street to serve the needs of black women and girls.

1923

Mrs. Ella Frazier becomes Executive Director of the Phyllis Wheatley Branch. Under her able leadership for the following 32 years, the organization becomes a major influence in black life in Harrisburg.

1927

Board President, Mrs. Helen Boas Reily, and her husband, Mr. John Reily, donate a 10-acre plot of land in the Fishing Creek Valley for the YWCA to operate on its own camp facility. Later gifts by the Reilys expand the property to 28 acres.

1933

The YWCA campaigns for job reforms for women. Lectures are sponsored on reform-minded topics such as child labor, old age security and world problems.

1938

Membership in the Phyllis Wheatley Branch has grown and the Branch has taken over the entire building. The Branch purchases a second building next door to serve as the dormitory for a residence program.

1940

The Building Drive realizes $165,000. A pool and library are added.

1941

The Keystone Arrow Club of the YWCA begins a support group for the differently abled.

1943

The YWCA celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Phyllis Wheatley Breakfast serves 1,400 guests.

1945

The YWCA-USO continues providing dances every Saturday for servicemen. The YWCA even provides its chapel, free of charge, to servicemen who wish to marry but are not near their home church.

1946

Club for Overseas War Brides organizes. YWCA membership stands at 3,472. The Teenage Center boasts membership of 1,400 teens who meet at the YWCA every Wednesday to dance and socialize.

1953

The YWCA conducts a housing survey to make recommendations to improve low-income housing in Harrisburg.

1955

Following the lead of the National Association, the Phyllis Wheatley Branch and the main YWCA Branch integrate, becoming one of the first organizations of its kind in the area to do so.

1967

Upon recommendation of the public affairs committee, the board advocates for support of Senate Bill No. 8, Section 1803, related to amending and revising present abortion laws.

1968

The YWCA receives $67,000 from the United Fund (predecessor of United Way) toward its operating budget.

1971

The Board votes to adopt the National Imperative: the elimination of racism, and changes the association's name to Greater Harrisburg Area YWCA. Beginning to actively support the new women's activism, the YWCA opens its doors to house many women's advocacy groups, including Women's Center of Harrisburg, the League of Women Voters, and the Harrisburg Chapter of the National Organization for women.

1974

Ms. Sara-Alyce Parsons Wright, a former member of the Harrisburg Phyllis Wheatley Branch, becomes the first black woman to head the National Board of the YWCA.

1975

The City of Harrisburg uses its right of eminent domain to seize the YWCA's building. The YWCA is forced to move into facilities at the old Governor Hotel and Duncan Hall (a former private school gymnasium).

1978

Emergency Shelter opens providing aid to the homeless. It is the only shelter in the county open to whole families.

1979

Rape Crisis program opens to serve sexual assault victims from Cumberland, Perry and Dauphin Counties. The center employs one full-time and one part-time employee and seven volunteers.

1981

The YWCA moves into its new facility, the former GC Murphy Building, at 215 Market Street.

1985

Violence Prevention and Education programs are offered by the YWCA's Rape Crisis Services in public schools.

1987

The YWCA's Bridge (transitional) Housing program is established to guide homeless women on the road to self-sufficiency. The YWCA is dedicated as a "Peace Site", making it a visible symbol of commitment to world peace.

1988

The Child Development Center opens, providing latchkey care to school-age children and guidance for teens.

1990

The YWCA begins providing Domestic Violence Services in Dauphin County, including a shelter for battered women and their children, and continues public policy advocacy related to racial justice, freedom of choice, victimization, affordable childcare and housing for all.

1993

The YWCA begins a safe house for families affected by lead based paint poisoning. The YWCA celebrates its 100th anniversary.

1998

The YWCA moves into its new building at 1101 Market Street.

2000

The YWCA Domestic Violence Legal Clinic is established.

2001

The YWCA Legal Clinic moves to its new office at 114 Walnut Street.