| Creator | Home for Aged Women (Goddard House) |
| Title | Home for Aged Women (Goddard House) records |
| Dates | 1873-1972 |
| Identification | CC 13 |
| Quantity | 1 linear foot (2 manuscript boxes) |
| Collection Abstract | The records of the Home for Aged Women [Goddard House] (formerly the Association for Indigent Females and the Association for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females Winchester House) consist of annual reports from 1873-1972 (with gaps), and a special pamphlet entitled A Brief history of the Home for Aged Women: one hundredth anniversary (1849- 1949), published in 1949. The annual reports summarize events in which the residents participated, include a complete list of residents (by married name) with their ages and admittance dates; as well as summarizing the administrative activities and structure of the Home, and statistics regarding the financial accounts of the Home. |
| Historical Abstract | The Home for Aged Women was founded in 1849 and was originally named the Association for Aged Indigent Females. The objective of the founding charity administration was to provide for respectable women in the Boston area who needed help or depended entirely on the benevolence of charitable groups for shelter and support. Over the course of one hundred and fifty years the Home changed location and name, as well as charitable responsibilities and residence rules. The Home for Aged Women has also been known as the Association for Aged and Indigent Females, the Association for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females, Winchester House, and Goddard House (1980). Throughout the history of the Home the corporation maintained strict rules as to the requirements of applicants including limiting enrollment to those of the female gender, those with financial and medical need, and those of a respectable status (to be defined by the corporation and staff). |
| Language | Material in English. |
| Location | Collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Archives staff for more information. |
Collection is open.
Copyright for materials resides with the creators of the items in question, unless otherwise designated.
Please contact the College Archivist with requests to publish any material from the collection.
[Identification of item: description and date], Home for Aged Women (Goddard House), CC 13, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 1996.019
Processed by Angela Reddin, June 1996
Supervised by Joan Gearin
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Aliza Allen Leventhal, August 17, 2012.
The Home for Aged Women was founded in 1849 and was originally named the Association for Aged Indigent Females. The objective of the founding charity administration was to provide for respectable women in the Boston area who needed help or depended entirely on the benevolence of charitable groups for shelter and support. Women were allowed to apply for residency based on their status within the community as defined by the charity, "both widowed and single, who are dependent for assistance, in whole or in part, upon a helping hand of charity, and whose chief solicitude...is how they may retain a certain home for themselves, and secure thereby a permanent shelter in the winter of their age."(1) The first residence was opened on Charles Street in Boston in 1850 and housed 36 women. The name was changed to Association for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females. It soon expanded and moved to three nearby buildings on Charles Street.
In 1863, the Home was moved to 108 Revere Street which accommodated 60 residents, and in 1872 the legislature changed the name of the corporation to the Home for Aged Women (HAW). The Home expanded by purchasing part of the land of the New England Home for Little Wanderers at 205 South Huntington Avenue, occupying in 1927 and increasing its capacity by 15%. In 1931, the Winchester Home in Charleston was merged into HAW, and 29 more women thus "joined our family." HAW accommodated this increase in population by adding a new wing which later became the infirmary.
Over the course of one hundred and fifty years the Home changed location and name, as well as charitable responsibilities and residence rules. The Home for Aged Women has also been known as the Association for Aged and Indigent Females, the Association for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females, Winchester House, and Goddard House (1980). Throughout the history of the Home the corporation maintained strict rules as to the requirements of applications including limiting enrollment to those of the female gender, those with financial and medical need, and those of respectable status (to be defined by the corporation and staff.) The Home originally provided residents with full room and board, but over time the residents were required to provide a portion of the costs. Eventually the rules of admission were extended to those in need of medical care, admitting men as well as women (1980's).
The records of the Home for Aged Women (Goddard House) (1873-1972) (formerly the Association for Aged Indigent Females and the Association for the Relief of Aged and Indigent Females Winchester House), constitute two manuscript boxes of .8 linear feet. The entirely of the collection consists of the Home for Aged Women annual reports 1873-1972 (with gaps) and a special pamphlet entitled A Brief History of The Home for Aged Women: One Hundredth Anniversary (1849-1949), published in 1949. These annual reports summarize events in which the residents participated, and include a complete list of residents (by married name) with their age and admittance date. The annual reports also include statistics regarding the financial accounts of the Home. The annual reports summarize the administrative activities and structure of the Home and Address at the opening of the new home for aged indigent females is bound into the first volume of annual reports (1873-1879).
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
Bracketed dates are missing.
Box 1
Box 2
Box 2
