Pictured are YWCA employees (back row) Margaret Coppola, Laura Martin, Debra Raines, (front) Judy Hutton, Claudia Ramirez, Susan Cheuk, Pallavi Patadia and Jenn Attridge. (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Attridge.)

The Princeton YWCA will be spending 2012 celebrating 90 years of eliminating racism and empowering women.

They kicked off the celebrations on Jan. 7 with a big birthday party, opening their doors to over 100 adults and 200 kids. The party let the community experience arts and crafts, the signing of a giant birthday card, free pool time and access to the YWCA classes that were running that day.

“Everyone came to see what we’ve done in the past 90 years, and see where we’re going to go,” said Judy Hutton, CEO of the Princeton YWCA.

The party finished with all the guests gathering around a birthday cake and singing “Happy Birthday.”

Hutton believes it is important to observe this monumental anniversary in celebration of the major role the YWCA has played in the lives of women.

“We just have such a rich history. We started in 1922 with teaching women how to type. That’s how we all got started, all the YWCAs,” Hutton said.

At that time, there was nowhere else for women to go. Even pools wouldn’t allow women to swim.

“Everything was so segregated, and there weren’t things for women to learn, so we really took that on,” Hutton said.

The 1920s also brought the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program, which is still an important part of the organization today. The classes expose non-native speakers to the community through tutoring, conversation groups and visits to the library or the art museum. Hutton says the students feel like they are part of a family when they take the class.

Students are not the only ones who feel that way.

For Princeton resident Dr. Toby Israel, the YWCA is a place that helped her when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I walked through the door and they couldn’t have been more supportive,” Israel said of the YWCA’s Breast Cancer Resource Center, which has offered support groups, workshops, counseling and information to women dealing with cancer since the 1970s.

Now the YWCA is the site for Israel’s Robe to Wellness sewing circle. She meets with friends every Tuesday to sew messages of hope into beautiful robes that are given to women undergoing chemotherapy.

All YWCA activities, classes and groups focus on their slogan: Eliminating Racism and Empowering Women. The YWCA has been a central location for all the progress women have made, from offering support groups, to fighting for women’s right to choose to providing care for the children of working mothers.

“Basically the 90th anniversary is a celebration of the accomplishments of women. It’s because of these women that we’re still here. We want to make sure we’re going to be here for 90 more years,” Hutton said.

To see a historical timeline of the YWCA’s accomplishments over the past 90 years, go online to ywcaprinceton.com and click on the “90 Anniversary” icon.