Newspaper excerpts

From The Boston Daily Globe, March 3, 1902, p. 21:

Finding Homes for the Homeless.

Boston Female Asylum Now Doing This Instead of Keeping Large Numbers Together - The Organization Has Kept an Institutional Home Since 1800, and Has Property to the Value of Half a Million.

The Boston female asylum on Washington st., opposite the Wells memorial institute, after having maintained since 1800 an institutional home for dependent little girls, has just undertaken the experiment of placing the children out in individual families.

The Children's aid society in Chardon st., which was studied as a model by the asylum managers, has had no Home with a big H, and another old Boston organization, the Children's friend society of Rutland st., auctioned off its last crib before Christmas, holding the house only till a customer is found.

The placing out, one by one, instead of the sheltering by platoons, seems to be gaining favor as a modern and scientific method, and some of the female asylum managers expect that eventually the Boston home will be given up, if now also the society's other asylum at Lexington.

Others of the asylum ladies feel less confident about the result. There was sufficient divergence of view so that while it was voted to make the experiment, the door was left open for a full return to the old method if the majority shall favor so doing. The number of girls resident at the Boston asylum has been reduced from 34 to 20 since the first of the year by placing out a dozen, but no placing out has been done from the Lexington branch.

The question whether waifs can best be reared in an institution or in private families has been debated with a good deal of spirit by charity experts, those who favor the placing-out system contending that the best substitute for a mother is some other good woman at her own health, while the conservative view is that you never can tell exactly what kind of foster mother you are intrusting your charge to, whereas in an institution everything is just so and can be regulated to a practical certainty.

The female asylum is one of the wealthiest charitable organizations in the state. Its last report to the state board of charities gave the real estate as valued at $206,500, while the invested funds were $337,206 - a total of more than half a million.

It was organized in 1800, when the only other public charities in the town of Boston were the almshouse, the Boston marine society, the Boston humane society, and the Boston dispensary. Moreover, it was started by women, and this was the first time women has combined for a public purpose. There was so much criticism of them for overstepping the bounds of a woman's proper duty that a long list of influential ladies elected as officers declined to serve.

The real founder (or foundress, for the corporate charter called her a "directress," and "directress" it is to this day) wa Mrs. Hannah Stillman, wife of the celebrated Baptist preacher, Dr. Samuel Stillman.

Some of her associates were Mrs. Ozias Goodwin and Mrs. Jonthan Mason Sr. A contributor was Abigail Adams. Mrs. Stillman's portrait, executed in oils by one Gilbert Stuart, hangs in the asylum parlor, suitably graven, and is one of an interesting picture gallery representing women only, save in the single instance of Samuel Smith, who bequeathed the likeness for this purpose, and as he had bequeathed more substantial bounties in addition, the legacy was accepted and hangs kitty-corner from that of the earliest "first directress."

There have been annual sermons, just like those of the Ancients, and some great reading is among the reports of them. Friends of the asylum used to write original hymns for its use on these occasions. The literary merit of some of them may be infered from the first stanza of No. 1:

No longer, poor orphan, indulge your despair,

For the Father of mercies has answered your prayer,

And means of assistance supplied.

Behold these kind friends, whom his bounty inspires,

To accomplish your hopes and fulfil your desires,

And for all that your helpless condition requires,

Of relief and of help to provide.

Various houses were used as asylums, in Pleasant, Summer, South, Lincoln and other streets, till in 1844 the brick building with the front yard and the iron fence in Washington st was erected. Edward Everett Hale used to preach in a church on the adjoining corner, now occupied by the Columbia theatre.

The board of managers, originally composed of women from various denominations, has always remained nonsectarian, and of late years the Unitarians have usually had a specially active interest, and the managers have included members of distinguished Boston families. The "first directress," as the presiding officer is called, is Miss A. M. Storer. Mrs. A. Lawrence Lowell is said to have been the most active spirit in bringing about the trial of placing out, and with Mrs. Storer she serves on the placing out committee under Miss M. Paine, sister of Robert Treat Paine Sr, as chairman. An ingenious novelty in the make-up of this committee is that beside the three members, who hold office for a year, there are two others, called "the members for the month," who serve only a month at a time. By this plan a considerably larger number of members of the society are enabled to take active part in what goes on, and there is always a body of members with some experience from whom the more permanent three-fifths of the committee can be drawn.

Miss Storer said in an interview:

"This experiment in placing out was undertaken with a desire of falling into line with some of the other societies, which believe placing out is the more scientific method. No date has been set for closing this house, and no decision has been reached to close it at all. Some time ago this porperty was offered for sale, but that was because of annoyance from the elevated trains. It was often asked what would be done if it was sold. Since then this placing out plan came up, but that does not mean that we are necessarily going to be without an asylum. The asylum in Lexington is not being disturbed, and there has been talk of building another out there. Certainly if we moved from here we should not take another place in the city. Conditions have greatly changed since we came to this site. The whole character of the neighborhood has changed from that of residences to one not the most healthful for a young girl to grow up in.

"In both asylums we have from 50 to 60 girls in all. That is not nearly the capacity. At the time of the war for the union we took in, I think, 97 in this one building. But that was a great emergency.["]

Mrs. M. F. Holmes, matron of the Washington-st asylum, is doing the placing out.

"This is not so hard for us," said she, "as if we had not been placing older girls out to earn their board. We are in communication with ministers and others in the various towns about Boston for the purpose of finding places where girls of 17 and older, whom we are ready to discharge, can earn their board, and we now are extending that system so as to find families willing to take children from 2 years old up. We pay for the board.

"After a recommendation of a family I visit it, and if it seems favorable there is still further investigation among people who know the family. Then after the child is placed there are other visits of inspection. The towns to which we send are near enough, so that the ladies may conveniently visit them."

* Source: Boston Daily Globe, March 3, 1902, p. 21, NewspaperArchive.com