Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans records
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Abstract
The records of the Colored Orphan Asylum document the activities of the institution from 1836 to 1972, with the bulk of the records falling between 1850 and 1936. The records include minutes of general meetings, the Executive Committee, the Indenturing Committee and the After-Care Committee; volumes recording indentures; administrative correspondence; financial records; admission and discharge reports; newspaper clippings; reminiscences; visitor registers; and building plans. These records document the internal workings of an institution dedicated to educating and training African-American orphans in New York City.
The Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans Records, with the exception of restricted material and Series IX, are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.
Biographical / Historical
The Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans was founded in 1836 and was originally located on Fifth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets in Manhattan. In 1884, the institution was renamed the Colored Orphan Asylum and Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans; sometime after 1944, the name was again changed, this time to the Riverdale Children's Association. The institution was also relocated to Riverdale-on-Hudson.
The Asylum was among the earliest organizations in the country to provide housing, training, and employment specifically for African-American orphans. In the late 1880s, the Asylum adopted the "cottage-home" system, in which residents of varying ages lived in small groups under the supervision of a matron. The children in each cottage performed domestic chores. The system was thought to promote a less institutional atmosphere.
During the Draft Riots of July 14, 1863, the Colored Orphan Asylum was attacked by a mob, whose size was estimated by the New York Times at several hundred, mostly women and children. At that time, the Asylum housed some 600 to 800 homeless children in a large four story building surrounded by grounds and gardens. The crowd plundered the Asylum, even looting donated baby clothes, then set fire to the first floor despite the pleas of administrators. The building burned to the ground.
Arrangement
This collection is organized in thirteen chronological series:
Series I: Minutes of Board Meetings
Series II. Minutes of the Executive Committee
Series III. Admission Records
Series IV. Indentures
Series V. Book of Records of Stipend Committee
Series VI. After-Care Committee Minutes
Series VII. Visitors Registers
Series VIII. Building Committee
Series IX. Bible
Series X. Centennial Booklet
Series XI. Miscellaneous Items
Series XII. Bequests
Series XIII. Property Material
Scope and Contents
The records of the Colored Orphan Asylum document the activities of the institution from 1836 to 1972, with the bulk of the records falling between 1850 and 1936. The records include minutes of general meetings, the Executive Committee, the Indenturing Committee and the After-Care Committee; volumes recording indentures; administrative correspondence; financial records; admission and discharge reports; newspaper clippings; reminiscences; visitor registers; and building plans. These records document the internal workings of an institution dedicated to educating and training African-American orphans in New York City.
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Conditions Governing Access
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Conditions Governing Use
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans Records, MS 24, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processed by Melissa Haley. Machine-readable finding aid created by Cara Brick with electronic finding aid conversion corrections finalized by Melissa Haley, 2003, and Alex Poole, 2009.