History of Orphanages

"When I was growing up, it was only natural for me to ask my parents about what life was like when they were growing up. My mom grew up in a rural setting in New Brunswick and she was always honest and open about her experiences; my father, however, was quite different. He grew up in St. Patrick's Orphanage in Montreal, Quebec."

Orphanages are real and did exist. In fact, some still exist today in the 1990s. Not all of them are the same as Dicken's image in Oliver Twist and not all orphans are as well-adjusted as Anne in Anne of Green Gables. There are three main eras where we see an upsurge in orphanages:

mid-1700s
mid-1800s
World War I and immediately after (1914-1930)

During each of these timeframes society addressed the issue: what do we do with the overpopulation of unclaimed children?

Novelty postcard

In the 18th century we first see orphanages in England and Europe. People did not live long lives as we do now and many woman died during childbirth leaving a number of uncared for children. Many women also carried illegitimate children that they could not provide for and consequently these children learned to live on the streets at a very young age.

North America saw a few orphanages creep up in different areas of the United States: Georgia, Mississippi and New York. In most instances, orphaned children were sent to relatives or given over to almhouses. At this time in North America, orphans remained in relatively small numbers. It was not until the mid-19th century that they really burgeoned. There were several reasons for the overpopulation of unclaimed children during this time.

"My Dad barely remembers his father packing his suitcase and sending him off to the orphanage. He was only four years old, so how much can I expect him to remember? My grandfather told him his mother died and he could not look after him so he had to go live somewhere else. It was during the Depression and I know many adults around the world couldn't provide food for their children. For my grandfather, I am sure the orphanage option became a Godsend and the responsible thing to do."

The mid-1800s brought the industrial revolution. With the increased urbanization came big city problems: long working hours, crime, unhealthy living conditions, poverty and relaxed morals. In addition, the Civil War took the lives of many family breadwinners. At a time when countries conceived prisons and insane asylums, it also sought to institutionalize the overpopulation of children on the streets. By 1850, New York state had 27 orphanages run by both public and private funds and yet there was still an estimated 10,000 street kids with no home or guardian. By 1870 society was looking for additional solutions to clean up the number of street kids.

Churches were great advocates of Orphanages. They already housed many adults faced with poverty so it was a natural step for them to rescue the youth of the country and correct moral order. Not all denominations executed this concept in the same manner. Child care, education, amenities and access to relatives varied greatly among all orphanages, but particularly amongst the church-run orphanages.

"One time I asked my Dad what he had wanted to be when he grew up. He said he always wanted to be a priest. I was shocked since he always refused to go to church. He said he wanted to be a priest because in the orphanage they were so wealthy, they were the 'boss' and they used to get to eat these huge, multi-course meals."

Orphanages provided an immediate solution to the bothersome symptom of parentless children. It did not solve the problem of the overpopulation of street kids or the bulging population in these new orphanages. New York city decided to try adoption. Initially it was not a popular idea and would-be parents were slow to accept it. Orphan Trains became the more romantic alternative to the warehouse-style orphanages of the big city. Boys and girls alike were give a train ticket and sent to the mid-west. Many were adopted by farming families in Texas, Arkansas, Nebraska, Iowa and other states. While not all placements were successful, it was a fresh approach to solving the real problem for minimal cost.

"When I was a teenager, I asked my father many questions much more aggressively than I had when I was young. I asked him about how his mother's death had affected him, where she was buried and what the funeral was like. He said he did not attend the funeral. He didn't know where she was buried and had never visited a grave. I thought this was odd for a French Catholic family. I wondered how then he knew she was dead? Then, for the first time, he recalled a time when a woman came to visit him in the orphanage.

World War I (1914-1918) and the post-war period marked the beginning of the modern day orphan phenomena. The new orphans more than ever before were the victims of unwed parents, immigration, abuse, neglect and abandonment. By 1930, the Great Depression took its toll. Parents who were unable to feed their children could drop them off at the church and pick them up when they were able to feed them again. Some children lived in orphanages for months at a time and then returned to their parents when circumstances changed. This gave rise to social welfare and government subsidies to the less fortunate.

"He was only about 8 or 9 years old. One of the Brothers had called him into the parlour near the entrance of the orphanage. His six-year old sister, who resided with the nuns in the all-girls wing, was also called in. A woman was standing there anxiously waiting to start their very short visit. My dad remembered that she had long black hair and wore glasses. He remembers the glasses more than anything because you simply didn't see people wearing glasses at that time. He also remembered the glasses because he had problems seeing the blackboard and his father had refused to get him glasses.

"The mysterious woman brought my father and aunt a gift each. One of them remembers it being a chocolate bar and the other argues that it was an apple; both agree that it was a food treat. She explained to them that she was their mother. My Dad was in disbelief, "You can't be my mother. My mother died," he said. But my aunt was in awe. She had a mother!"

In the 1950s and 1960s attitudes towards child care slowly started to change. Society believed that children do better in a family environment and gradually the closures of orphanages in the 1960-1975 period gave rise to foster care and group homes all over North America. The debate continues as people offer ideas on how to raise parentless or neglected children. Unclaimed children continue to face unanswered questions. Most were denied a known ancestry or family history and this seems to be the most destructive thing of all.

The newest philosophy is to fix the problem instead of the symptoms. Rather than housing the children, many cities are taking steps towards educating and reuniting parents and children together once again. It is the most costly solution, but it appears to show the greatest long term gains for everyone!

"You probably figured out that neither my father nor my aunt ever saw their mother again. She was only in the parlour for a short 15-minute visit but they treasure that 15 minutes now. The orphanage provided basic food, clothing and shelter, and they were lucky that they also received a superior education. Unfortunately, it did not provide a family history or connection."