COLLECTION GUIDES

1843-1949; bulk: 1860-1949

Guide to the Collection

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Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the records of the Home for Aged Colored Women, a charitable organization founded in 1860 to provide services to aged and indigent African-American women in Boston. Records include financial records, donor lists, committee notes, descriptions of women helped, board meeting minutes, and printed annual reports.

Historical Sketch

The Home for Aged Colored Women was founded by Rev. James Freeman Clarke, his mother Rebecca Parker Clarke, and Rev. Leonard A. Grimes of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston. They first discussed the idea of a home for aged and indigent African-American women at a meeting in the vestry of Clarke's church in 1860. John A. Andrew, present at the meeting, motioned for a subscription to be taken at that time to provide for the immediate needs of women already known to Rev. Grimes and Mrs. Clarke, and to form a committee to determine the most appropriate means of providing for these women in the long term. The committee recommended that a home be formally established, and they issued a call for subscribers to fund the project. The subscribers first met on 18 January 1860 and elected a Board of Managers to secure a property, hire a matron, and oversee the Home's operations. The Board solicited applications for admission, and in April 1860 ten women moved into the Home at 65 Southac Street in Boston. Many of the original residents were formerly enslaved, and few had family members in Boston who could provide adequate care for them. While similar private institutions had already been created to support elderly white women in Boston, none would admit black women, regardless of their social standing. The following August, the Home moved to 27 Myrtle Street in Boston.

The Home for Aged Colored Women was incorporated on 4 March 1864, with a mission to provide respectable African-American women, aged 60 and older, with either a home offering supportive care in their later lives or monetary assistance to allow them to live independently or with family members in the city of Boston. Due to the evolving needs for the Home, particularly with regard to space, structural safety, and modern sanitation, the organization purchased and renovated a home at 22 Hancock Street, and in September 1900, the residents moved into their new accommodations.

The organization was guided by a group of elected officers and a Board of Managers, later called the Board of Directors. The first officers of the organization were Dr. LeBaron Russell, president; Nathaniel G. Chapin, treasurer; Anna Loring, secretary; and Dr. Calvin G. Page, physician. Additionally, a rotating set of "visitors" would oversee the operations of the Home and ensure residents were treated well and the facilities were kept in good repair. Finally, committees oversaw more specific administrative functions, such as admissions to the Home, the purchase and allocation of supplies, hiring personnel, and securing property. Funding came in the form of one-time donations, annual subscriptions, or planned giving through individual estates.

The Home's staff included a matron, a nurse, and several servants. Residents were called "inmates" and were expected to participate fully in house activities, including morning prayers and housework (as able). In addition to providing up to twenty women with a place to live, the Home also supported elderly black women outside of the Home by providing monthly funds to help them either live independently or to assist their families in providing for them.

By 1915 the Home had grown to house nineteen residents, with an additional fifty-eight women receiving outside aid, ranging from $2 to $12 per month. By the 1940s, the number of residents had declined sharply, and in 1944 the organization chose to close its doors, although the Board of Directors continued to use their funds to support elderly black women with outside aid. The annual report for the 1949 was the last published by the organization.

Sources

MacCarthy, Esther. "The Home for Aged Colored Women, 1861-1944." Historical Journal of Massachusetts 21 (Winter 1993): 55-73.

Collection Description

This collection contains the administrative and financial records of the Home for Aged Colored Women in Boston, Mass. Administrative records include published annual reports; meeting minutes and other records of the Board of Managers (later called the Board of Directors); monthly visitor reports describing the condition of the Home and its residents; lists of gifts and donations to the Home; and a brief nurse's log (1910-1912). Records from the committees of admissions and supplies focus heavily on descriptions of the applicants and eventual residents of the Home, including their personal histories, initial conditions, recommendations for admittance, supplies residents received while in the Home, and death dates. Correspondence is primarily related to financial matters, especially estate planning and the allocation of planned donations of money and property. Some correspondence discusses applicants to the Home.

Financial records include copies of donors' estate records, primarily from 1843 to 1876, daily account books tracking expenses for the Home from 1860 to 1940, and annual treasurer's reports from 1932 to 1937. The bulk of the records pertain to the years during which the Home was active (1860-1949), however some of the donor estate records date to 1843.

Acquisition Information

Deposited by the Home for Aged Colored Women, November 1962.

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

Other Formats

This collection is available as color digital facsimiles.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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I. Administrative records, 1860-1949Digital Content

Close I. Administrative records, 1860-1949Digital Content

II. Financial records, 1843-1940Digital Content

Close II. Financial records, 1843-1940Digital Content

Preferred Citation

Home for Aged Colored Women records, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Andrew, John A. (John Albion), 1818-1867.
Clarke, James Freeman, 1810-1888.
Clarke, Rebecca Parker.
Grimes, Leonard A. (Leonard Andrew), 1815-1873.

Subjects:

Account books, 1860-1940.
African American women--Charities.
African American women--Massachusetts--Boston.
Boston (Mass.)--Social conditions.
Charities--Massachusetts--Boston.
Old age homes--Massachusetts--Boston.
Older women--Massachusetts--Boston.

Materials Removed from the Collection

A photograph of the Home's 22 Hancock St. location has been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

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