Boston Female Asylum

The Boston Female Asylum (1800–1910) was an orphanage in Boston, Massachusetts, "for the care of indigent girls."U.S. Bureau of the Census. Benevolent institutions, 1904; p.78 Its mission was to "receive ... protect ... and instruct ... female orphans until the age of 10 years, when they are placed in respectable families."Boston Directory. 1807

History

The Asylum incorporated in 1803. Hannah Stillman served as its first director. Founding board members included Sarah Bowdoin, Elizabeth Perkins, Elizabeth Thurston, Mary Hubbard, Sarah Parkman, Hannah Smith, Mary Gray, Abigail May, Margaret Whitwell, Elizabeth Dorr, Mary Grew, Ann Green, Margaret Cooper and Elizabeth Goodwin. At the time, "the only public charities then existing in our good town of Boston, except the Almshouse, were the Boston Marine Society, ... the Boston Humane Society, ... and the Boston Dispensary. As late as 1886, some found notable that "the asylum is under the direction of a board of lady managers."

Early supporters included Robert Treat Paine Jr. Annual fundraising events raised substantial sums. For instance, the 1803 fundraiser at Trinity Church included a sermon by Samuel Parker, "an ode written for the occasion, ... ndthe Franklin Musical Society hichperformed the musical part, to great satisfaction." After the event, local newspaper publishers Gilbert & Dean wrote: "we have not learnt what collections the society made, but it must have been above five hundred dollars."

In 1807 the orphanage was located on South Street; in 1823 on Essex Street;Boston Directory. 1823 and from the ca.1840s on Washington Street. By 1873, "between 70 and 80 children are provided for in the Asylum. ... Annual expenses, which are between $11,000 and $12,000, are defrayed mostly by income from permanent funds, and to small extent by annual subscriptions."

"Beginning in 1902, the managers of the asylum came to feel strongly ... in favor of the use of the family home for the care of children, in preference to the institution. Gradually their work took on new form, until, in 1907, the asylum was finally closed, and family home care was entirely substituted."

In 1910 the organization changed its name to the Boston Society for the Care of Girls. Some years later, it "merged with the Boston Children's Aid Society in 1923 to form the Children's Aid Association." Then in 1980, the Children's Aid Association "merged with the Boston Children’s Friend Society, an adoption agency formed in 1883, and Boston Children’s Services (BCS) was born." In the 2000s Boston Children’s Services, New England Home for Little Wanderers, Parents’ and Children’s Services, and Charles River Health Management merged into The Home for Little Wanderers, which provides a variety of services in Massachusetts.

Locations in Boston

* South Street (ca.1807)
* 62 Essex St. (ca.1823)
* Washington St., corner Asylum St. (ca.1844-1857);Boston Directory. 1848, 1856 750 Washington St. (ca.1873); 1008 Washington St. (ca.1904)

Variant names

* Asylum for Female Orphans
* Boston Female Asylum for Orphans
* Boston Female Society for Destitute OrphansWainwright. A sermon preached on the anniversary of the Boston Female Society for Destitute Orphans: September 25, 1835.
* Female Orphan Asylum

References

Further reading

* Robert Treat Paine Jr. Communication on the Boston Female Asylum. Boston Gazette, April 1, 1802. Reprinted in
The works in verse and prose
1812; p. 344+
* Samuel Parker. Sermon for the Benefit of the Boston Female Asylum. 1803.
* An account of the rise, progress, and present state of the Boston Female Asylum. Together with the act of incorporation. Also, the bye-laws, and rules and regulations, adopted by the Board of Managers. 1810.
* F.W.P. Greenwood. A Sermon delivered on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Boston Female Asylum, Sept. 23, 1825. Boston: 1825

An account of the Boston Female Asylum
1833
* Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright
A sermon preached on the anniversary of the Boston Female Society for Destitute Orphans
September 25, 1835. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1835

Reminiscences of the Boston Female Asylum
1844.
* Saved from the street
Our Boys and Girls
v.11, no.224, March 1872.

Records of the Boston Female Asylum: Transcribed, cross-referenced and annotated by Ann S. Lainhart
2013.

{{Coord, 42, 20, 45.15, N, 71, 3, 53.23, W, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title

1800 establishments in Massachusetts
1910 disestablishments in Massachusetts
History of Boston
19th century in Boston
Orphanages in the United States
Women's organizations based in the United States
South End, Boston
History of women in Massachusetts
Women in Boston