The Daughters of Isabella is a spiritual, social and charitable organization that was started as a female auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus. The first circle of the Order was founded in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1897, as an auxiliary to the Rev. John Russell Council of the Knights of Columbus for the purpose of uniting all Catholic women in a sisterhood to achieve the following aims; to know one another better, to extend our circle of friends, to centralize all our resources to better help one another and to be a greater force to contend with in the pursuit of good in our society. Its patroness and namesake is Queen Isabella of Castile, Spain.