Born

1844

Died

1928

Occupation

Community worker and Women's rights activist

Summary

Sarah Crisp Booth (1844-1928) was instrumental in making a success of the first Melbourne Young Women’s Christian Organisation, which was officially recognised by the Young Women’s Christian Organisation of Great Britain on the 21st May 1883.

Initially a reluctant recruit, Booth (together with her sister E.W. Booth), became the first General Secretary of the Melbourne Young Women’s Christian Organisation of Melbourne. She is listed as Honorary Secretary 1882- 1910.

As part of the ‘midnight missions’, library development, ‘gospel temperance union’ and factory visit programs, Booth – keenly aware of space restrictions – set up a building fund in 1886. This resulted in the purchase of the “Christian Home for Girls” in Jolimont in 1888.

Sources used to compile this entry: Booth, S. C. (Sarah Crisp), 1844-1928, Dinna forget : stories from real life, George Robertson & Co.,, Melbourne ; Sydney, 1908, 312 pp; Dunn, Margaret, The Dauntless Bunch : The Story of the YWCA in Australia, YWCA,, Clifton Hill, Vic., 1991, 264 pp; Durrant, Leoni, Y.W.C.A. 1882-1982 : Melbourne pictorial history, Ian Murray and Associates, [Melbourne], 1982, 91 pp; Warne, Ellen Mary, 'The Mother's anxious future : Australian Christian Women's Organisations meet the modern world, 1890s-1930s', PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, Department of History, 2000, 313 pp; Young Women's Christian Association, 1894 - 1984, 84/66; The University of Melbourne Archives; Young Women’s Christian Association Victoria, http://www.ywca.net/default.asp?id=12, accessed 05/05/2004.