Series XIII - Photographs, 1890-circa 1960

XIII.2.A - Photographs of Industrial Schools, Lodging Houses, and Children's Clubs - contains mostly vintage photographs, one photo album, and a few reprints or photomechanical reproductions of city facilities arranged alphabetically by facility, further subdivided by photographer in cases with more images, then arranged numerically by photograph number.

This subseries consists of 11 folders of mostly vintage photographic prints of mixed unidentified Children's Aid Society city facilities, arranged alphabetically by subject matter, followed by 3 folders of miscellaneous unidentified facilities, and 1 folder of miscellaneous facilities. Possible identifications for some facilities are suggested.

XIII.2.C contains 6 folders of photographs of CAS services (dental, medical, etc.), arranged alphabetically by service, followed by 2 folders of special events.

Sub-subseries XIII.3.A consists of prints by Lewis Hine of CAS country facilities, taken in 1928, arranged by print number. The photographs include a nearly complete set of 5x7 proofs numbered 1-84. Three numbers (45, 67, 79) are not represented, three additional numbers (5A, 31A, and 71A) are included, and there are a few duplicate proofs as well. The sub-subseries also includes 8x10 prints of many of these images. The images include many unpopulated landscapes, as well as images with people (especially farm school boys). The photographs were taken at a transitional time for the CAS, as the newly acquired Bowdoin Farm property in New Hamburg N.Y. was about to become a camp and farm school, replacing the Brace Farm School.

Brace Farm School, in Valhalla N.Y., operated 1894-1928 with the goal of exposing boys and young men to farm work, to ease the transition to farm life they would experience after subsequent placement by the Emigration/Placing-Out Program. Bowdoin Farm School, in New Hamburg N.Y., began operating in 1929 and provided a more extensive farm training program to prepare young men for employment on farms.

This sub-subseries contains photographs of the CAS farm schools arranged chronologically with Brace Farm School first, followed by Bowdoin Farm School, and then unidentified Brace and/or Bowdoin Farm School. Within these divisions, folders are further subdivided by photographer, and arranged numerically by photograph number within the folders. The sub-subseries concludes with a set of 8 small format disbound photo albums entitled "Bowdoin Farm Boys" from 1935-1943, consisting of 549 2.75 x 4.5 portraits of young men who attended the farm school.

Subseries XIII.3.C contains photographs of CAS camp facilities and activities, arranged alphabetically by facility, and then chronologically for each facility. The Bowdoin Camp photographs include a bound photo album. Miscellaneous photographs are at the end of the sub-subseries. Goodhue camp also served as a home for girls preparing to be sent to foster care. Some images of Goodhue in that function are interfiled with the Goodhue camp images, and noted on the folder. CAS camps shared facilities with CAS farm schools, so researchers should be aware that a few images of camp facilities may also be found in sub-subseries XIII.3.A and B.

XIII.3.D contains photographs of CAS convalescent facilities and activities, arranged alphabetically by facility, and then chronologically for each facility. Folder 23 includes 5x7 photographs by Lewis Hine of both the Elizabeth Milbank Anderson and Milbank Convalescent Homes, arranged under the former. Some photographs of the Summer Home at Bath Beach Long Island are mixed with the Health Home at Coney Island, and noted on the folders. For a history of CAS convalescent facilities, please see the note for Series X.

Sub-subseries XIII.4.A consists of 6 folders of portraits of children, commissioned by the CAS.

Sub-subseries XIII.4.B consists of 3 folders of photographs of tenements, commissioned by the CAS.

Sub-subseries XIII.5.A consists of 2 boxes of photographs, arranged chronologically, 1890-ca. 1920's. The photographs are mostly vintage group shots of "companies" of children sent to the country together. There are a few reprints. The company's destination, the name of the adult agent who accompanied the children, and the case file numbers corresponding to the photographs are all noted, whenever these facts are known.

Sub-subseries XIII.5.B consists of 2 boxes of duplicate photographs separated from the case files, arranged by case file number. The folders in this sub-subseries are not itemized in this finding aid, because the names of the children are restricted. The photographs themselves are open for research.

Sub-subseries XIII.5.C consists of 1 box of miscellaneous photographs of unidentified children from the Emigration/Placing-Out Program.

This sub-subseries contains 4 photo albums - 2 bound albums arranged chronologically (by Evert Jansen Wendell, ca. 1900-1910; and an album assembled by an unknown person at the CAS using photos by Lewis Hine, 1928), followed by 2 disbound albums arranged chronologically (probably by Louisa de Ferrari Weygandt or Lillian Weygandt ca. 1906, 1910 and undated; and by an unknown person or people at the CAS, ca. 1936-1944).

Two of these albums present a broad visual picture of the CAS: The Hine album contains a selection of some of the prints also collected in proof form in subseries XIII.2-4 above. The album documents the work of the CAS in various locations, with captions.

The 1936-1944 album/report is a photo essay which appears to be a draft, with original photographs attached to the pages by photocorners. The author(s) and photographer are unknown. It is unknown whether any final version of the report was ever produced. The entire volume was housed in a 3-ring binder. The section relating to Bowdoin Farm, placed at the back of the binder, was written in 1939, with 2 supplemental pages from 1944. The Bowdoin Farm pages have numerous editorial comments penciled or penned in. The other sections from the front of the binder (Centers, Newsboys, Convalescent Homes) appear to have been written in 1944 and perhaps constitute a later draft, as they have fewer editorial comments. The section on Convalescent Homes does not include photographs, but the other sections are richly illustrated with many 2.5"x 2.5" photographs, attached to the pages by photocorners. Some photographs are missing from the pages. There is no section on camps, but there are four loose photographs which may or may not have been intended for a section on that subject.

The other two photo albums were created by CAS-affiliated people, but the albums' relationship to the work of the CAS is unclear. The 1900-1910 photo album was assembled by Evert Jansen Wendell, a trustee of the CAS from 1902-1917 who is well represented throughout this collection by photographs and other material. His album consists of photographs from a trip to Cuba. It is probable that either Louisa de Ferrari Weygandt, Italian School principal from 1860-1921 or her daughter Lillian Weygandt, principal 1921-1930, is the creator of the 1906-1910 album, which was kept at their center until it was forwarded to the CAS archives at an unknown date. The photographs depict people in the country, possibly Venoge, NY.

XIII.6.B - Other Photographs - contains 3 folders of miscellaneous photographs which were neither commissioned by the CAS nor depicting images of the CAS, but which nevertheless made their way into the CAS files. The folders are arranged chronologically by the date the photographs were taken. 1 folder contains vintage prints by Lewis Hine, from his 1908 and 1915 series on child labor in cotton mills and in agriculture. The photographs were made before Hine was hired by the CAS, and they have his stamp on them.