Research Catalog

Title

Riverdale Children's Association Records, 1889-1957.

Author

Riverdale Children's Association (New York, N.Y.)

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Colored Orphan Asylum (New York, N.Y.)

Description

2 lin. ft.

Summary

Records of the Riverdale Children's Association consist of registers listing names of children admitted; cause of admission; parents' names; name and address of individual who brought in the child; amount of payment person or city agreed to pay per week for board, tuition and clothing; and contagious diseases and immunization record. Some entries include whether the child was baptized, whether siblings were admitted, and discharge date and name of person taking responsibility for child. Registers cover the years 1889-1916, with discharge dates extending to 1925. Collection also contains admission and discharge registers which include information on the disposition of the child, 1900-1914; scrapbooks containing news clippings, 1936-1957; and a centennial edition pamphlet of the history of the asylum, 1936.

Donor/Sponsor

Schomburg NEH Automated Access to Special Collections Project.

Subjects

• Riverdale Children's Association (New York, N.Y.)
• African American children > New York (State) > New York
• Children > Institutional care > New York (State) > New York
• Orphanages > New York (State) > New York
• African American families
• Families > New York (State) > New York
• Colored Orphan Asylum (New York, N.Y.)
• Orphans > New York (State) > New York
• Registers

Genre/Form

Registers.

Note

• Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Source (note)

• Riverdale Children's Association

Biography (note)

• The Riverdale Children's Association was founded by a group of Quakers in 1836, as the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York City; it was the first institution in the United States dedicated to the care of African American children.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged

Call Number

Sc MG 300

OCLC

NYPW088000021-A

Author

Riverdale Children's Association (New York, N.Y.)

Title

Riverdale Children's Association Records, 1889-1957.

Access

No photographs of registers; confidentiality form required.

Biography

The Riverdale Children's Association was founded by a group of Quakers in 1836, as the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York City; it was the first institution in the United States dedicated to the care of African American children. The Asylum organized its own school, as there were no public school facilities for orphans, and at age 12, the children were indentured to learn a trade. Members of the Board of Trustees were Protestant. The Asylum's facilities moved several times, and its second home at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan was burned to the ground during the New York City Draft Riots in 1863. In 1918, children began to be placed in foster homes, and in 1944, the name was changed to Riverdale Children's Association; at this time, the majority of the children were not orphans but were neglected and dependent. White children were also admitted at this time. The home is presently closed and the association now serves as a foster home placement agency.

Connect to:

Finding Aid

Added Author

Colored Orphan Asylum (New York, N.Y.)

Research Call Number

Sc MG 300