The Salem Female Charitable Society was established in 1801 by the subscription of 140 local women who sought to "raise funds for the benefit of female orphans or children from three to ten years of age whose parents are not capable of supporting them". Housing the children together, they employed a governess to care for them and teach them reading, writing, and other domestic business. When they reached the age of ten or eleven, the children were placed in reputable families employed as maids until the age of 18. A house on Carpenter Street in Salem, Massachusetts was purchased and used as an asylum and all meetings were held there.

The Society incorporated in 1804. During the first four decades of the nineteenth century, the Salem Female Charitable Society took care of 82 children. In 1837, however, the Society ceased accepting female orphans under its patronage and dismantled the asylum house. It was sold in 1844. The Society then shifted its focus to caring for indigent widows. Distributions were made by two members of the Society who visited each recipient. Their work continues today.