Finding Aids for New York Colored Orphans
History of Poverty and Homelessness in NYC
New York City Department of Records has almshouse records; city directories; voter registrations; and municipal government records. Manhattan births July 1847-1848, July 1853-1909, marriages July 1847-1848, July 1853-1937, deaths 1795, 1802-1804, 1808, 1812-1948, the 1890 police census;
New York Historical Society, (Children’s Aid Society archives and some New York Foundling Hospital records, Orphan Train Sending Institutions, and more)
Books
Nineteenth Century Apprentices in New York City – Book available at Amazon $
Digital Books at Hathi Trust – Free Access See keyword selection for New York Orphans
Inskeep, Carolee R. The Children’s Aid Society of New York: An Index to the Federal, State, and Local Census Records of Its Lodging Houses (1855–1925). Baltimore, Maryland: Clearfield, 1996. Includes 1855, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890 (police census), 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1920, and 1925 censuses. (Available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and other locations)
Inskeep, Carolee R. The New York Foundling Hospital: An Index to Its Federal, State and Local Census Records (1870–1925). Baltimore, Maryland: Clearfield, 1995. (Family History Library and in other locations ) Includes 1870, 1880, 1890 (police census), 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1920, and 1925 censuses. Contains an alphabetical list of children, sisters, and workers.
O’Connor, Stephen. Orphan Trains. New your, New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2001 WorldCat
Orphanages and Children’s Homes
Albany Orphan Asylum
- Report 1900
Buffalo Protestant Orphan Asylum 1880 Census list of orphans (Ancestry)
Brooklyn Home for Children, Forestdale Inc., 67-35 112th St., Forest Hills, NY 11375 – Home for Destitute Children (1884)
Brooklyn Nursery and Infants Hospital – Salvation Army Social Services for Children, 132 W. 14th St., New York, NY 10011 (212) 352-5550
- Office of Closed Records, 150 E. 45th St., New York, NY 10017.
- Guide to the Records of the Children’s Aid Society (1853-1947
- Records at the New York Historical Society Museum & Library. (historical material and correspondence – record restrictions apply on individual case files)
Victor Remer Historical Archives of the Children’s Aid Society, 105 East 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010 Phone: 1-212-949=4800
Children’s Village (formerly the New York Juvenile Asylum), Office of Alumni Affairs, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522 (914) 693-0600, Ext. 1410 (Founded 1851)
Colored Orphan Asylum
Five Points House of Industry — Greer-Woodycrest and Hope Farm, Crystal Run Village, RD 2, Box 98, Middletown, NY 10940. Established by New York Ladies’ Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1850) Images, Book,
Hebrew Benevolent Orphan Asylum, Brooklyn,
- image
- Proceedings of the … annual meeting of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York. (1800)
- The Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York, 1860-1910 and the auxiliary societies, Ladies’ Sewing Society, 1860-1910, Seligman Solomon Society, 1884-1910, Junior League (1910)
- Annual report of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York
- Addresses on homely and religious subjects : delivered before the children of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum / by Hermann Baar (1882)
Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society Orphan Asylum, Pleasantville, NY
House of Refuge (The first juvenile reformatory in the United States. Opened 1824 on the Bowery in Manhattan, New York City. In 1839, the refuge was destroyed by a fire. The Refuge was relocated to 23rd St. In 1854 the refuge was relocated to Randalls Island.
- Wikipedia
- New York House of Refuge Inmate Case Histories 108 volumes containing detailed information regarding the personal, family, and criminal history of inmates admitted to the New York House of Refuge. These records often includes: age and place of birth; education; habits; criminal history; parents’ names and addresses; description of home; parents’ occupations; conduct after discharge; physical description; and parole and recommittal information.
- Guide to the Records – New York State Archives
- New York House of Refuge Inmate Case Histories
- Images from the collection of John N. Miskell
- Merchant’s House Museum – House of Refuge Archives – includes images and history.
- News Article Jan 23, 1860, New York Times
- Digital collections include photos found in the New York Public Library Digital Collections and the Digital Public Library of America.
- History: The House of Refuge – Flatiron District
- Historical information – philanthropic concerns – juvenile reform
- WorldCat
- Cemetery Records New York House of Refuge Cemetery
- Hathi Trust – Documents relative to the House of Refuge Free digital access
- Online Books about the House of Refuge
- History – NYC Homeless History
Infant’s Home (Opened December 1859 at the corner of Lexington Ave and 51st St., New York.
Leake & Watts Orphan House
- Report of the Leake and Watts Orphan House Author (New York, N.Y.) Published 1918
Mercy Home, Sisters of Mercy, Willoughby Ave., Brooklyn, New York (1862)
National Orphan Train Complex
300 Washington St., Box 322, Concordia, KS 66901 (785) 243-4471
New England Home for Little Wanderers
The Home for Little Wanderers, 271 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115
(888) HOME-321 – Home founded in 1865 and merged with Boston Children’s Services in 1999.
New York Child’s Foster Home Services – Records for Sheltering Arms – Episcopal Social Services and Speedwell, 122 E. 29th St.. New York, NY 10016
New York Foundling Hospital, Record Information Department, 590 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10011 (212) 633-9300, Ext. 6830 New York Foundling Asylum (1869)
- Wikipedia – includes information about records
- Guide to the Records of the New York Foundling Hospital 1869-2009 MS 347
- Inskeep, Carolee R. The New York Foundling Hospital: An Index to Its Federal, State and Local Census Records (1870–1925). Baltimore, Md.: Clearfield, 1995. At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 974.71 J3in. Includes 1870, 1880, 1890 (police census), 1900, 1905, 1910, 1915, 1920, and 1925 censuses. Alphabetical list of children, sisters, and workers.
- Records Information
New York Infant Asylum, 1865-1910, New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital, 1910-1947 Records: New York Weill Cornell, Medical Center Archives, 525 E. 68th St, 25th Floor, New York, NY 10021 (212) 746-6072
New York Juvenile Asylum, 176th St, Washington Heights. Opened in 1853 to provide care for homeless and neglected children in New York City. In 1904 the asylum relocated to Dobbs Ferry, Westchester County, NY. In 1920 the asylum was renamed The Children’s Village.
- History
- New York Juvenile Asylum records at Univ. of Columbia, Rare Book and Manuscripts Library.
New York Orphan Asylum, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, (1909)
Orphan Asylum Society of Brooklyn (Founded in 1832) Records request back to 1855: Brookwood Child Care (1960-present), 25 Washington St.. Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718) 596-5555
- Asylum records kept at the University of Minnesota, Social Welfare History Archives, 320 Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612) 625-9825
Orphans Asylum Society of the City Of New York, Kings County
- U.S. Federal Census Index – 1880 enumeration of orphans
- Manual of the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn
- Annual report of the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York (1800)
Orphans’ Home and Asylum of the Protestant Episcopal Church in New York (1906)
Orphan Trains: A Brief History and Research How-to
Oxford Orphanage, also known as Masonic Home for Children at Oxford,
- Image Gallery of Images History (1838)
- The Children’s Village
- Thomas Asylum for Orphan and Destitute Indian Children (1886)
Randall’s Island (1845-1875 (abandoned, orphaned, impoverished children usually between 3and 12 years of age) The children were kept separate from the adults in the almshouse.
- Genealogy.com Discussion thread about Randall’s Island
- Wikipedia
- Blog (with source citations) about Randall’s Island History
- Islands of the Undesirables: Randall’s Island and Wards Island
- Randall’s Island Nursery history
- New York Public Library Digital Collection – 1867 article and illustrations
Other Resources:
- Brooklyn Historical Society includes finding aids and collections guides to archives, photographs, etc.
- Columbia University Libraries, history, biography,
- Court Records, consider city, state, and federal courts for information.
- Municipal Archives has New York City birth, death, and marriage records; the 1890 police census; city directories; voter registrations; almshouse records; and municipal government records.
- New York State Archives, Albany, has vital record indexes, court records, wills, estates, and state censuses.
- New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York City has censuses, city directories, church and cemetery records, probates, and other potentially useful records to aid in your research.
- New-York Historical Society manuscripts, newspapers, histories, directories, photos, etc.
- New York Public Libraries
- New York State Library, Albany, has local histories, genealogies, church, cemetery, city directories, microfilmed newspapers, censuses, and passenger lists,
- Vital Records Section of the New York State Dept. of Health, Menands, NY, for births and deaths occurring outside New York City (1881-present)
Associations and Societies
A manual of directions, suggestions and guidance for cottage mothers and supervisors of children, at the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, Pleasantville, N.Y. (1925)
Annual report of the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans (1800)
Hang tight! We are working on adding links to this page. We hope to help you discover valuable links to children’s homes, orphanages, asylums, institutions, and other interesting records.
Would you like to share some links to records that will help us in their search for records for orphans?
Some orphans were placed in children’s homes in neighboring states. Don’t forget to search the surrounding state orphanages. Try searching in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Vermont.