St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families

[1] Prior to 1860 and the beginning of the Civil War, three Daughters of Charity came from Emmitsburg, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., where they established the city's first foundling home.

[2] On March 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress to incorporate St. Ann's Infant Asylum, as it was then called.

The asylum was charged with caring for the city's growing number of abandoned children and unwed mothers of all races and religions, many of whom had no place else to turn.

[2] In 1949, St. Ann's started providing affordable day care for working mothers with young children to further assist the Washington community.

In 2012, the name was officially changed to St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth and Families to better reflect the full range of clients served and programs offered.