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Neighborhood House Association Celebrates 110 years Kick-off
at the Marston House
By Robin Lakin
May/June 2024
 Left Mary Gilman Marston, pictured at about age 35, when she established the Neighborhood House with her youngest sister Helen; right Helen Douglas Marston, photographed about 20 years after she and sister Mary founded Neighborhood House in 1914, when she was 22. Courtesy SOHO collection |
 Mayor Todd Gloria (second from left), Neighborhood House CEO Rudy Johnson (third from right) and staff at the Neighborhood House 110th Anniversary celebration at the Marston House. Courtesy Neighborhood House Association |
 Students of the Neighborhood House culinary training program created this beautiful tablescape of delicious refreshments for the anniversary celebration in the Marston House gardens. Courtesy Neighborhood House Association |
Coming full circle, the Neighborhood House Association (NHA) partnered with SOHO to kick-off its 110th anniversary celebration March 20, 2024, at the Marston House Museum & Gardens. The location holds special significance as the place where the organization was founded in 1914, thanks to George and Anna Marston’s eldest and youngest daughters, Mary and Helen. A golf tournament planned for July and a November gala will continue the celebration this year.
Against the backdrop of an azure sky, velvety green lawns, and vibrant pops of color in the gardens, the celebratory speakers included Mayor Todd Gloria; Neighborhood House CEO Rudy Johnson; SOHO Executive Director Bruce Coons; author, activist, and historian Maria Garcia; and Neighborhood House program alumni, board members and officers. The association launched a new 1914 membership club.
Introduced to the history of the organization through a series of storyboard displays, guests proceeded to the formal garden. Amid lovely strains of live harp music, they enjoyed an artistic array of delicious brunch treats prepared by the students in the NHA culinary program. The NHA presented SOHO with a beautiful etched-glass plaque dedicated to Mary and Helen Marston.
And how did the NHA come to be? Mary Gilman Marston, born in 1879, and her youngest sister Helen Douglas Marston, born in 1892, both attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, which, along with rigorous academics, emphasized social work to young collegiate women.
By the turn of the 20th century, Jane Addams had promoted the Settlement House movement in this country after visiting one in London’s East End at the age of 27. In 1889, she established the Hull House in Chicago to serve the city’s destitute.
After graduating from Wellesley, Helen Marston worked in settlement houses in New York and at Hull House in Chicago under Miss Addams, experiences that lit a fire within Helen to create a nearly identical resource in San Diego
Through the Marston sisters' involvement in the San Diego College Women’s Club, fundraising for what would become the Neighborhood House began in 1913. Both Mary and Helen served on its board of directors, with Mary fulfilling the role of chairperson of the board for several terms. Helen worked tirelessly to promote the organization and taught English and children’s cooking classes, managed the open-air school, and organized the children’s Christmas programs.
During its early years, Neighborhood House primarily served the Mexican-American community and offered not only education but also social services, a free medical clinic, a library, dances and parties, summer camps and sports.
Fundraising was crucial to maintain momentum and the full complement of services, so the Marston House gardens became the site of an annual event. With all of San Diego invited as guests, the festivities featured dances and music that were taught at Neighborhood House. Children raised spirits (and possibly support) by happily decorating their tricycles and bicycles for a seemingly never-ending parade around the circular drive.
Did it ever occur to Mary and Helen Marston that Neighborhood House, founded during the Mexican Revolution, would celebrate 110 years of service to millions of individuals from across the globe? Mary lived to be nearly 108 years old, so she probably had a pretty good idea that it would.
Happy Birthday, Neighborhood House. Here’s to another 110 years!
Download our commemorative celebration booklet.
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