The Grail began in Holland in 1921 as a Catholic lay organization, called The Women of Nazareth.

It was founded by a Jesuit priest, Jacques van Ginneken (1877-1949), but from its beginning, women directed the Grail. They staged massive, colorful rallies and enacted religious dramas, working with young women in Holland, England, and Germany.

In May 1940, two Dutch Grail women, Lydwine van Kersbergen (1904-1998) and Joan Overboss (1910-1969), came to the United States at the invitation of Chicago’s archbishop.

They began their work as the Grail at Doddridge Farm, a summer camp in Libertyville, Illinois. In 1944, the Grail, which had grown to sixteen women, moved to a farm in Loveland, Ohio (near Cincinnati). This farm is now Grailville.

In the 50s and early 60s, the Grail established centers across the country in Brooklyn (1947), Cincinnati (1951), New York (1952), Detroit (1952), Philadelphia (1954), Lafayette, Louisiana (1957), Queens (1958), San Jose, California (1961), and Cornwall, New York (1963). Today the Grail continues to operate centers in San Jose and Cornwall, and a center in the Bronx (opened in 1982).

In the late 60s and the 70s, the Grail, influenced by changes in the Catholic Church and by the growth of the women’s movement, become more inclusive of other religious traditions, and Grail members became pioneers in Catholic feminist theology. In 1969, the Grail in the USA voted to admit women of other Christian traditions as full participants, and in 1975, welcomed Jewish women as well.

More information
Women Breaking Boundaries: A Grail Journey, 1940-1995. Book by Janet Kalven, State University of New York Press, 1999. ISBN 0‑7914‑4332‑9.

All of the Grail archive photos used in the top banner come from
Janet Kalven’s book “Women Breaking Boundaries - A Grail Journey,
1940-1995″. It is a lively history of the Grail from the perspective
of one woman who lived it. This book may be ordered from the
bookstore at Grailville, www.grailville.org.