The English-Speaking Union of the United States
is a non-profit, non-political, educational organization
whose mission is to promote scholarships and
the advancement of knowledge through the
effective use of English in an expanding
global community
Formally organized in 1920, the
English-Speaking Union of the United States is headquartered in a charming, three-story, 19th century carriage house located in the historic Murray Hill district of
New York City and operates through a network of seventy-six branches across the United
States, and shares a mission with more than forty English-Speaking Unions around the world.
The San Francisco Branch is the oldest and one of the largest of the US branches. Around the same time the ESU of the Commonwealth was founded in Britain in 1918 by Sir Evelyn Wrench, a Branch in San Francisco was being organized by founding President Dean Charles Mills Gayley.
The Branch continues to fulfill its mission by holding his annual high school Shakespeare competition, funding scholarships for Bay Area students and teachers to pursue studies in the UK, and by offering its members an engaging variety of programs and events. In addition, we have recently added participation in the
Books As Envoys program, twinning with the ESU Branch in the Philippines to provide a selection of award-winning books for use in their schools.
Membership in the English-Speaking Union of the United States is a passport to the rest of the world. Our connection to an expanding network of international ESU branches affords
us a rare opportunity to collaborate with other countries in a variety of educational initiatives.
