The Colored Orphan Asylum was an institution in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, open from 1836 to 1946. It housed on average four hundred children annually and was mostly managed by women. Its first location was on Fifth Avenue between

42nd 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and 43rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan, a four-story building with two wings. It later moved to

Upper Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...

and then to Riverdale in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

History

The Colored Orphan Asylum was founded in Manhattan in 1836 by three

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

: Anna and Hanna Shotwell and Mary Lindley Murray. It was one of the first of its kind in the United States to take in black children whose parents had died, or were not able to take care of them. Prior to its founding, orphaned black children were housed in jails or worked as beggars or chimney sweeps as orphanages refused to take them. The orphanage initially offered schooling only for infants, feeling that their wards would not advance far in society due to being Black and orphans. Older children were bound by indentured servitude in which they were contracted to families, both Black and white, to learn a trade or skill until age 21. The families, in turn, paid a small fee to the Colored Orphan Asylum for the services which were placed in the bank for when the child left the institution. By 1897, schooling was increased until grade six and sent several students to the

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...

for further study. In 1918 schooling was increased until grade eight and the indenture system evolved into a loose

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

system in which the child was to be incorporated into the family and continue their studies. In 1846 Dr.

James McCune Smith James McCune Smith (April 18, 1813 – November 17, 1865) was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author who was born in Manhattan. He was the first African American to hold a medical degree from the University of Glasgow in Sco ...

, the country's first licensed African American medical doctor, became the orphanage's medical director. The orphanage moved several times in Manhattan.

1863 riots

New York Draft Riots Harpers colored asylum

The riots in New York, destruction of the colored orphan asylum

In March 1863, conscription in the United States became stricter, and the federal government used a lottery system to choose citizens for the draft. Those chosen could hire a substitute or pay the government, but most working-class men could not afford substitution, while black men were ineligible for the draft (they were not considered citizens of the United States at the time). Working-class white males, furious about the federal draft laws, rioted and attacked federal buildings and black neighborhoods. The Colored Orphan Asylum was burned down by Irish mobs on July 13, 1863, during the first day of the

New York Draft Riots The New York City draft riots (July 13–16, 1863), sometimes referred to as the Manhattan draft riots and known at the time as Draft Week, were violent disturbances in Lower Manhattan, widely regarded as the culmination of white working-cl ...

. A policeman was killed while leading the children out the back door to escape.

Rebuilding

(King1893NYC) pg456 COLORED ORPHAN ASYLUM, WEST 143D STREET, NEAR TENTH AVENUE (cropped)

The asylum was rebuilt by the Quakers in 1867 on 143rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The operation moved to a new building in 1907, in

Riverdale, Bronx Riverdale is a residential neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Riverdale, which had a population of 47,850 as of the 2000 United States Census, contains the city's northernmost point, at the Coll ...

. At the new site, the orphanage adopted a new plan to house its wards in cottages, with 25 children and a housemother in each cottage. The new plan was received favorably and encouraged ownership and self-respect in the children. In 1910, the asylum purchased a farm in Dutchess County for boys to learn practical skills. In 1944, the asylum was renamed the Riverdale Children's Association and changed itself into a foster care agency by 1946. The building later became the

Hebrew Home for the Aged The Association of Jewish Aging Services (AJAS) was founded in 1960 as the North American Association of Jewish Homes and Housing for the Aging (NAJHHA). It was created and continues to function as the central coordinator for homes and residenti ...

References

Relevant literature

*Seraile, William. ''Angels of mercy: White women and the history of New York's Colored orphan asylum.'' Fordham Univ Press, 2013. *Sappol, Mike. 1990. ''The Uses of Philanthropy: The Colored Orphan Asylum and Its Clients.'' Columbia University: MA thesis. *''Riverdale Childrens Association, 120th anniversary, 1836-1956. Founded in 1836 as the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans by N.Y.'' Riverdale Children's Association (New York). *From Cherry Street to Green Pastures: A History of the Colored Orphan Asylum at Riverdale-on-Hudson, 1836-1936 (New York: Riverdale Children's Association, 1936)

External links