South Calcutta Girls’ College is an institution steeped in history. Its foundation can be traced back to the efforts of some lawyers of the Calcutta High court of the early part of the 20th century, who were keen to promote higher education for women. A significant step was taken with the formation of the Beltala Girls’ Education Society sometime in the 1920’s with the objective of setting up a college in South Calcutta for girls of educated middle-income families. The society was chaired by the great freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chitta Ranjan Das, while Peary Mohan Chatterjee was appointed secretary. Till the 1930’s the Diocesan College on Lansdowne Road was only women’s college in south Calcutta. But the need for a new institution was keenly felt when it closed down in 1931. It was at the initiatives of the Beltala Girls’ Education society that South Calcutta Girls’ College was founded in July 1932.

Till 1946, it functioned as a morning college within the premises of Beltala Girls’ School. The residential facility was shared by students of the School and College, and convenient bus arrangements were made for the day scholars. Miss Dorothy Moses served as the first principal, while the Managing Committee was headed by Bipin Bihari Ghosh (member of the Legislative Council) who took over as the chairman of the Beltala Society after the death of C.R.Das. Other member of the Managing Committee included Sarat Chandra Roy Chowdhury, B.L., Advocate Calcutta High Court, Peary Mohan Chatterjee, and poet Kamini Roy. The College Library was later named after Peary Mohan Chatterjee.Distinguished academicians and the members of the judiciary have served as president or vice president of the governing body educationist Charu Chandra Chatterjee , Justice B.K Mukherjee, Justice J.N Mazumder,V.C. P.N. Banerjee, Lady Protima Mitter, grand daughter of Sir Ramesh Chandra Dutta, was appointed as the president of the Governing Body in March 1951.

On 1st july 1946, the College and hostel were shifted to their present location on Sarat Bose Road. 1946-1947 was a year of unrest and violent upheavels over most parts of the country. In view of the tumultuous times, Victoria Institution placed a request for temporary accommodation of their classes and hostel in the premises of SCGC, and the Governing Body readily acceded. This spirit of cooperation among the college of the city is brought forth by another instance : as our College initially could not provide laboratory facility to Botany students, Bangabasi College very willingly permitted our students to carry out the practical classes in their laboratory.