1850 - Home for the Friendless

Having decided that “the only true way to arrest the evils of poverty and crime would be to save the children,” the women changed the name of their organization to the Poughkeepsie Guardian Society for the Poughkeepsie Orphan Home and Home for the Friendless. On April 15, 1852 a state charter was obtained and the society became incorporated. Although having no cash or endowment, the women committed to establishing “a temporary home for respectable females without employment or friends; also destitute and friendless children of both sexes, until they can be committed to the guardianship of foster parent, or worthy families, who will train them to respectability or usefulness.”

A portion of local school taxes was to go to the Home, showing that the local government was supporting this area of social reform. In the spirit of the reform movement of the time, the goal of the Home was “to prevent vice and moral degradation, maintain houses of industry, and home for the relief of the friendless, destitute or unprotected females and for friendless or unprotected children.” The only other such institution in the country at that time had been established in New York City a mere three years earlier. Most homeless children were thus sent to almshouses. 

In the 19th century, the educational approach of the Home was strictly institutionalist. The children had to wear uniforms and attend school in the building. The building and grounds were fenced in and the gate remained locked from the inside at all times. The only time the children could leave school was to go to church. Individuals who agreed to adopt a child from the Home would receive a child for a “three month trial,” after which “they could “either return him/her to the home, or have him/her indentured to me.” This was consistent with the times, when children were seen primarily as economic assets who could work and supplement a family’s income.

By November 1854, the Board of Managers had raised $4,500.

In May 1855, the Board purchased a lot at the corner of South Hamilton Street and Franklin Street in the City of Poughkeepsie, NY for $2,490. On November 15, 1855 the cornerstone was laid, with the mayor of the newly incorporated City of Poughkeepsie in attendance. When the cellar was completed, funding was exhausted. The Board asked people to “buy a brick” for $1, but once the brick walls were up and the roof was on, money ran out again.

The Poughkeepsie Orphan House and Home for the Friendless was dedicated on February 23 1857. The building had no water except from rain, no blinds, no means of meeting expenses, and a mortgage of $2,000. In June, the ladies held a strawberry festival to finance the blinds, with entertainment provided by the children. Then Matthew Vassar gave $1,000, the first contribution to a permanent endowment. During the first year, 30 children were cared for, 40 the second, and 55 the third.

On June 17, 1859, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel F. B. Morse donated $500, which was used for “a well, to finish the bathing-rooms and plumbing, and to carry water through the building.” The Home received many other donations on a smaller scale, and in many instances the donors wanted to remain anonymous.