The St. Bridget’s Catholic Chinese Center (1940- ) was founded in Los Angeles Chinatown in 1940 by Father John Cowhig as a mission for the Chinese community and a refuge for displaced Chinese Catholics in the Los Angeles area. Many newly immigrant non-Catholic Chinese and their American-born Chinese children arrived at the church for shelter, became converts, and joined the Church. In addition to founding the Catholic Chinese Academy, the Catholic Chinese Center provided educational and social services as part of its mission, and continues to do so into the 21st century.

The Catholic Chinese Academy (1942-1951) started as a summer language school for local Chinese children in Los Angeles as part of the St. Bridget’s Catholic Chinese Center's missionary services. As more volunteers from other Catholic schools, such as Sister Noemi Crews from the Immaculate Heart High School, joined the Catholic Chinese Center, it expanded to offer singing, dancing, and dramatics classes. In 1944, at the suggestion of Sister Crews, Father Cowhig converted the summer school to a primary school and named it the Catholic Chinese Academy as recommended by Dr. Stanley Chan. At its height, the Catholic Chinese Academy offered kindergarten to sixth grade and summer classes. Mr. Mulcahy and Archbishop John Joseph Cantwell supported and funded the Academy. After Archbishop Cantell passed away in 1947, he was replaced by Archbishop James Francis McIntyre. Archbishop McIntyre ordered the school to close in 1951, except for the nursery and kindergarten, and sent grade school students to the Queen of Angels Grammar School.

Father John Cowhig (1897-1986), born in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, studied for the Diocese of Cork in 1920 and founded the Missionary Society of St. Columban in 1922. In 1923, he was ordained. From 1924 to 1934, Father Cowhig was appointed to Hanyang, China as a missionary, but was transferred back to the United States in 1935 due to poor health. In 1940, he founded the Catholic Chinese Center and oversaw the creation of the Catholic Chinese Academy.

Sister Mary Noemi Crews (1907-1991) was a professional actress who produced plays at parochial schools in Los Angeles before she entered the convent. She obtained a Master’s in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. She taught English and public speaking courses at the Immaculate Heart College and the Queen of the Angels Convent and School. Sister Crews also taught dramatics at the Catholic Chinese Academy, where she was granted a full-time assignment. In 1948, she transferred to Catholic Girls’ High School in Los Angeles, and Sister Mary Joseph filled her vacant position.

Dr. Stanley Chan (1904-1983) was the first principal and education director of the Catholic Chinese Academy. A scholar from Canton, he held a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University. Chan taught Oriental Studies and Political Science at Loyola Marymount University, where he was the first Asian American faculty member and founded its Political Science Department. Chan was also the first Chinese to be naturalized in the United States after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was repealed.