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Creator
Howard Memorial Fund (New York, N.Y.)
Call number
Sc MG 126
Physical description
17.67 linear feet (22 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
[Item], Howard Orphanage and Industrial School records, Sc MG 126, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
Home to Harlem Project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Howard Orphanage and Industrial School was a Black-run orphanage founded in 1868 located first in Brooklyn, then Long Island. It closed in 1918.The Howard Orphanage and Industrial School records consist principally of administrative records dealing with fund raising and financial matters. The majority of the Administration series is correspondence from the office of President L. Hollingsworth Wood, primarily with other members of the board of managers, i.e., James H. Gordon and Mary Gordon, and J. H. N. Waring, superintendents; and Mansfield B. Snevily, treasurer, regarding the operation of the Orphanage and the purchase of supplies. Other correspondence is with insurance companies and creditors. Wood's general correspondence includes letters from guardians and other adults who wanted to place children in the Orphanage, and also concerns day-to-day issues. Files pertaining to the closure of the Orphanage, statements by staff, and the selling of property and equipment to pay off debts also appear in this series.

Biographical/historical information

Originally called the Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School was founded (1868) and operated by African Americans, unlike other orphanages that cared for destitute Black children. In 1911 the Howard Orphanage purchased a farm on Long Island, closed the Brooklyn facility, and moved 250 boys and girls there. The children were taught practical skills, and were "placed out" with individual families when they reached the age of sixteen. The orphanage was forced to close in January 1918 due to the severe winter that caused the water pipes to freeze, resulting in two children having to have their feet amputated. Following the foreclosure on the mortgage, the trustees of the orphanage used the financial contributions, which individuals continued to send, for the education of needy Black students in Brooklyn high schools. The organization was renamed the Howard Memorial Fund in 1956.

Scope and arrangement

The Howard Orphanage and Industrial School records consist principally of administrative records dealing with fund raising and financial matters. The majority of the Administration series is correspondence from the office of President L. Hollingsworth Wood, primarily with other members of the board of managers, i.e., James H. Gordon and Mary Gordon, and J. H. N. Waring, superintendents; and Mansfield B. Snevily, treasurer, regarding the operation of the Orphanage and the purchase of supplies. Other correspondence is with insurance companies and creditors. Wood's general correspondence includes letters from guardians and other adults who wanted to place children in the Orphanage, and also concerns day-to-day issues. Files pertaining to the closure of the Orphanage, statements by staff, and the selling of property and equipment to pay off debts also appear in this series. A few ledgers list the names and other pertinent information about the children, and there are files concerning the employment of the adolescents. Additional records pertain to the farm, the property, and the staff. Some printed material as well as printers' blocks used for the publications of the Orphanage are also included in the collection.

The Howard Orphanage and Industrial School records are arranged in seven series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of Howard Memorial Fund, 1977

Revision History

Finding aid updated by Allison Hughes. (2022 August 29)

Separated material

Photographs and glass negatives transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Related Material

Howard Memorial Fund Records, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Second Floor