Chicago Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.) records, 1858-1960, bulk 1858-1937

 

Descriptive Inventory for the Manuscript Collection at Chicago History Museum, Research Center

By Rebecca Freitag, 2014; rev. by Julie Wroblewski, 2017

 

 

Please address questions to:

Chicago History Museum, Research Center

1601 North Clark Street

Chicago, IL 60614-6038

Web-site: http://www.chicagohistory.org/research

 

© Copyright 2017, Chicago Historical Society, 1601 North Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614

 

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Title: Chicago Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.) records, 1858-1960, bulk 1858-1937

Main creator: Chicago Home for the Friendless (Chicago, Ill.)

Inclusive dates: 1858-1960, bulk 1858-1937

Size:  

6.5 linear feet (6 boxes)

 

Collection ID#: CHM-AM65080

Availability: This collection is open for research use, except one box temporarily in Conservation for treatment of mold.

Provenance statement: Gift of Family Care Services of Metropolitan Chicago (accession number 1991.403).

Terms governing use: Copyright may be retained by the creators of items, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law, unless otherwise noted.

Please cite this collection as: Chicago Home for the Friendless records (Chicago History Museum) plus a detailed description, date, and box/folder number of a specific item.

 

This descriptive inventory contains the following sections:

Biographical/historical note,

Summary description of the collection,

List of online catalog headings about the collection,

Arrangement of the collection,

Detailed description of archival series in the collection,

List of contents of the collection.

 

Biographical/historical note:

Chicago Home for the Friendless was founded in 1858. When the population of Chicago grew dramatically, it increased the need for social services to women and children. The Chicago Home for the Friendless responded to that need. Eventually, the organization served as an orphanage, a shelter for women and children, and also cared for older people in need. From 1897 to 1938, the home was located near East 51st Street and South Vincennes Avenue in the Washington Park community area. In 1980, the agency changed its name to Family Care Services of Metropolitan Chicago.

 

Summary description of the collection:

Board meeting minutes (1858-1937), admissions registers (listing names, ages, religion, and reasons for coming to the home, 1858-1898), "Old Ladies Dept." volume (1933), a time book (detailing the hours worked by the employees), and by-laws for the Chicago Home for the Friendless, which served as an orphanage, a shelter for women and children, and eventually also cared for older people in need. For a major part of its existence (1897 to 1938), the home was located in the Washington Park Community area. The organization became Family Care Services of Metropolitan Chicago in 1980.

 

Collection written in English.

 

List of online catalog headings about the collection:

The following index headings for this collection were entered in the online catalog.

Subjects:

Chicago Home for the Friendless-Archives.

Charities--Illinois--Chicago.

Children--Institutional care--Illinois--Chicago.

Children--Services for--Illinois--Chicago.

Child welfare--Illinois--Chicago.

Homeless persons--Services for--Illinois--Chicago.

Homelessness--Illinois--Chicago.

Older people--Services for--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Orphanages--Illinois--Chicago--19th century.

Orphanages--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Poor--Services for--Illinois--Chicago.

Shelters for the homeless--Illinois--Chicago--19th century.

Shelters for the homeless--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Social service--Illinois--Chicago--19th century.

Social service--Illinois--Chicago--20th century.

Women--Services for--Illinois--Chicago.

Women volunteers in social service--Illinois--Chicago.

Chicago (Ill.)--Social conditions.

South Side (Chicago, Ill.)

Washington Park (Chicago, Ill. : Community area)

 

Form/genre:

Lists.

Minutes.

Registers.

 

Co-creators:

Family Care Services of Metropolitan Chicago, donor.

 

Arrangement of the collection:

The collection is arranged in two series:

Series 1. Board meeting minutes and other records, 1858-1960 (box 1-2, 6)

Series 2. Admissions registers, 1858-1898 (box 3 -5)

 

Detailed description of archival series in the collection:

Series 1. Board meeting minutes and other records, 1858-1960 (box 1-2, 6)

Series 1 contains board meeting minutes for the home, including financial reports, by-laws, and constitutions by which the home board operated. Also present are reports and time records.

 

Series 2. Admissions registers, 1858-1898 (box 3-5)

Series 2 contains the records of women and children admitted to the home, including arrival and departure dates, reasons for coming to the home, names, and ages.

 

List of contents of the collection:

            Note: Please specify box and volume numbers when requesting.

Series 1. Board meeting minutes and other records, 1858-1960 (box 1-2, 6)

box 1:

volumes:

v. 1      Constitution, Rules, Records of Board of Managers, Board of Directors, 1858-1881

v. 2      Meeting minutes of the board, 1858-1877

v. 3      Meeting minutes of the board, 1881-1894

v. 4      Meeting minutes of the board, 1895-1905

v. 5      Meeting minutes of the board, 1905-1910

 

box 2:

volumes:

v. 1      Meeting minutes of the board, 1910-1917

v. 2      Meeting minutes of the board, 1917-1920

v. 3      Meeting minutes of the board, 1920-1923

v. 4      Meeting minutes of the board, 1923-1927

v. 5      Meeting minutes of the board, 1927-1937

v. 6      Time book, 1936-1960

v. 7      Old Ladies Department, 1933

 

Box 6

This box is unavailable at this time due to conservation treatment

.

Series 2. Admissions registers, 1858-1898 (box 3-5)

box 3:

volumes:

v. 3      Admissions register, 1881-1883

v. 5      Admissions register, 1888-1890

v. 6      Admissions register, 1890-1893

v. 8      Admissions register, 1893-1898

 

box 4:

volumes:

v. 1      Admissions register, 1858-1863 

v. 2      Admissions register, 1879-1883

 

box 5:

volumes:

v. 4      Admissions register, 1886-1890

v. 7      Admissions register, 1891-1893