Ladies' Benevolent Society/Spokane
Children's Home Records
Dates:
1884-1950 ( inclusive )
Quantity:
10 linear ft. (10 boxes)
Collection Number:
Ms 42
Summary:
The Ladies' Benevolent Society, a
charitable and educational organization, was founded in 1884 chiefly to
establish an orphanage in Spokane, Wash., which was incorporated in 1886 as
Spokane Children's Home; closed in 1950. Secretary's and trustees' reports
(1891-1941 (broken run)); records of individual children and caseworker studies
(1924-1950); financial records (1919-1935); and fragmentary correspondence
relating to adoptions and birth information (1938-1943).
Repository:
Eastern Washington State Historical
Society/Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture
Joel E. Ferris Research Library and Archives
2316 W. First Avenue Spokane, WA 99201 Phone: (509) 363-5313 Fax: (509) 363-5303 Email: archives@northwestmuseum.org
Languages:
Materials are in English
Sponsor:
Funding for preparing this
finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical
Publications and Records Commission.
Historical Note
The Ladies’ Benevolent Society was founded in 1884 to organize
community efforts toward the establishment of a home to orphans. It was
incorporated in 1886, and reincorporated in 1896. Until its closure in 1950, it
offered shelter to orphans, to children whose parents could not care for them,
and coordinated adoption services and social casework.
Content Description
The collection includes a broken run of secretary’s and trustee’s
reports, 1891-1941; records of individual children and caseworker studies,
1924-1950; financial records, 1919-1935; and fragmentary correspondence
regarding adoptions and birth information, 1938-1943.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
Collection is not restricted, except for case records, which are
restricted for 75 years from the date of creation. Family members may access
case files by contacting the repository.
Restrictions on Use :
Collection is open for use.
Preferred Citation :
Ladies' Benevolent Society/Spokane Children's Home Records (Ms 42),
Eastern Washington State Historical Society/Northwest Museum of Arts &
Culture, Spokane, WA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is physically arranged at the folder level. For the
purposes of the finding aid, intellectual groupings have been created to
provide the following series:
Administrative
Forms
Correspondence
Secretary Reports
Minutes
Financial
Miscellaneous
Case Information
Items listed within each series may or may not be physically
present in the same box.
Acquisition Information :
Donated by Spokane Rehabilitation Center, 1984 (L84-47).
Processing Note :
The collection was originally processed in 1987 to the file folder
level; however, a significant amount of material was left unprocessed at this
time. These unprocessed materials were processed in 2006 using the "More
Product, Less Process" method.
Additional Reference Guides :
Nolan, Edward W.
A Guide to the Manuscript Collections in the
Eastern Washington State Historical Society (Spokane, WA: Eastern
Washington State Historical Society, 1987).
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Online
Computer Library Center (OCLC) WorldCat database. Researchers desiring
materials about related topics, persons, or places should search WorldCat using
these headings.
Corporate Names :
Spokane Children's Home (Spokane, Wash.)--Archives
Geographical Names :
Spokane (Wash.)--Charitable and social
work--Orphanages
Spokane (Wash.)--Societies, etc.--Women
Washington (State)--Charitable and social
work--Orphanages
