The name was suggested by founding member Alice Fong Yu's Chinese language tutor, Professor Fung Gee Shau.
The club's symbol follows this motif, taking on the iconography of a round ancient Chinese bass coin with square markings in the center.
While they were certainly influenced by both the Chinese and American traditions of women's public service, they had no strict models on which to base their organization, allowing them the freedom to innovate for themselves.
The musical was shown multiple times, and ended its run with a successful showing at the War Memorial Auditorium in San Francisco's Civic Center.
From the 1930s onwards, the Square and Circle Club raised large amounts of money for relief efforts benefiting Chinese war refugees.
[19] The club became mainly involved with holding fashion show benefits for the war effort and leading the boycott against Japanese-made silk stockings.
[18][20] The boycott was also heavily promoted by then president Alice Fong Yu's' in the Chinese Digest through her column the "Jade Box" [20] .
Once the United States officially entered WWII in 1941, the Square and Circle Club also began activities to support the US war effort in the Pacific.
As previously stated, the club was highly invested in support for China during WWII through fundraising and boycotts of Japanese goods.
[16] The club also took an active part in local politics by lobbying for better community infrastructure in Chinatown, as well as working with other organizations to register Chinese Americans to vote.
[23] In its more general activities, much of the work and causes supported by the Square and Circle Club over the years have been grounded in local Asian American and San Francisco Chinatown community issues.
Its openness toward non-Chinese members and interest in cross-cultural interaction set it apart from many Chinese men's organizations that were in operation at the time of the club's founding.
Since its founding, the club has “advocated social change by supporting women's financial independence, education, and protection against domestic violence”.
"This feeling of camaraderie and sisterhood is enhanced by the club's function as a service organization that allows members to work together to achieve larger goals.
In addition, the Square and Circle Club has served as a space for its members to explore Chinese and Asian American identity.
[6] The Square and Circle Club, which frequently engaged in both Chinese and American cultural activities, provided a space for members to express both facets of their identity without abandoning one for the other.
[27] This level of required engagement has made it so every member has been an active part of running the club with opportunities to lead projects and committees.
In this way, all members are given the opportunity to learn both hard and soft leadership skills that range from creating complex budgets to negotiating between different factions working on a large project.