American College for Girls originated as a trilingual missionary school of the United Presbyterian Church of North America. Founded by Miss Ella O.Kyle, its first building was inaugurated in 1910 by former U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt. He said, "I do not believe that any nation can rise to permanent greatness unless its women are fitted to play their part and dignity as man should play his." In the year 1945, the Helen Martin Library was inaugurated. The Library was one of the many projects the College Alumni Association tools part in. the alumni decided to collect ten thousand Egyptian pounds for the construction of the Library. However, the cost of constructing the Library reached twenty thousand pounds. The graduates and the Egyptian friends of the college paid three quarters of the cost; at that time the highest amount donated by an individual was five hundred pounds. The last quarter of the cost was donated by friends of the colleges, living abroad. The donation was given in the form of money or as materials such as tiles for the floors or furniture for the reading rooms or educational aids. The Helen Martin Library was a fulfillment of Dr. Martin's dream for ever since she became the college principal she had wished that the college would have an independent library in a building of its own. The construction of the Helen Martin library took several years in which the college administration exerted great efforts to collect the money needed. Years later, those efforts were fruitful and the library was inaugurated in 1945. The college was honored to invite the president of the republic at that time, President Mohamed Naguib to inaugurate the library. In a huge celebration, headed by Dr.Martin and attended by high Authorities in the country and a large number of graduates who participated with their donations in the construction of the library. The library, as previously mentioned is full of different kinds of books in the three languages, Arabic, English and French. It also includes not only ancient and modern literature, but also other publications in the different branches of knowledge. This besides a great number of encyclopedias, different in subjects and languages, researches and circulars. The student body included girls of various ethnicities - Armenian, Greek, Jewish, Abyssinian, Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese, as well as girls from the Gulf states - many of whom attended as boarders. Dr. Helen J. Martin served as principal from 1923 to 1956. In 1960, with the nationalization of private schooling, its ownership was transferred to the Evangelical Church of Egypt, an Egyptian Protestant organization. The school's cosmopolitan community gradually dwindled until it became entirely Egyptian. In 1967, following the Arab - Israel War and subsequent strained relations with the United States, the school's name was changed to Ramses College for Girls. From 1967 to 1992 the school's principal was Reda Salama of the legendary Salama sisters, who established an Institute of Secretarial Studies and a Department for Girls with Special Needs. The school's graduates include leading figures in social development, aviation, diplomacy, government, and education, such as Aziza Hussein, Lotfia ElNadi, Aida Guindi, and Nawal al-Tatawi. By 2003, more than two thousand girls were enrolled in the school.
