| Creator | The Orchard Home School (Boston, Mass.) |
| Title | The Orchard Home School (Boston, Mass.) records |
| Dates | 1828-1948 |
| Identification | CC 16 |
| Quantity | 1.0 linear feet (2 manuscript containers) |
| Collection Abstract | The records include annual reports and other publications of the Society arranged into two series. Annual Reports document the various creating entities: Penitent Females' Refuge and Bethesda Society, Refuge and Bethesda Society, Bethesda Society, and the Friends of the Orchard Home School. Also contains other publications of the Society. |
| Historical Abstract | In 1816, the Penitent Females' Refuge was formed by a group of concerned gentlemen. The Society was formed to protect and re-educated "fallen" girls and young women. Women who were accepted were taught needlework and vocals and then placed in homes when they were prepared. By 1824 a women's auxiliary was begun to help defray the costs of running the home. In addition to raising and donating funds, the women visited the home to counsel, instruct, etc. the young women. The two groups worked together towards the common goal of rescuing "fallen women." The Penitent Females' Refuge and the Bethesda Society merged in 1914 and in 1916 they moved the refuge house to 917 Belmont Street in Watertown, after using a house on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge for two years. This new house was renamed the "Orchard Home School." In 1936, the Bethesda Society changed its name to the "Orchard Home School." |
| 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], The Orchard Home School (Boston, Mass.) records, CC 16, Simmons College Archives, Boston, MA, USA.
Transferred from the Simmons College School of Social Work Library, 1991
Accession number: 1997.010
Processed by Jennifer Hanna, February 1997
Supervised by Claire Goodwin
This collection guide was encoded as part of the LEADS project by Frances Harrell, February 2013
In 1816, the Penitent Females' Refuge was formed by a group of concerned gentlemen. The first meeting was held in 1818. The Society was formed to protect and re-educated "fallen" girls and young women. The Society opened a home at 32 Rutland Street, Boston. Women who were accepted were expected to stay for two years. They had school two days a week and were also taught needlework and vocals. Housework was also done by the inmates. The women were placed in homes when they were prepared.(1)
By 1824 a women's auxiliary was begun to help defray the costs of running the home. In addition to raising and donating funds, the women visited the home to counsel, instruct, etc. the young women. The two groups worked together towards the common goal of rescuing "fallen women."
In 1854, the women's auxiliary was officially incorporated into the Bethesda Society. The Penitent Females' Refuge and the Bethesda Society worked together until 1914, when they merged under the Bethesda Society's name.
In 1916, they moved the refuge house to 917 Belmont Street in Watertown, after using a house on Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge for two years. This new house was renamed the "Orchard Home School." By this time, the goals of the home school had changed, as reflected in the 1914 Directory of Charitable Beneficent Organizations: "...a private unsectarian home-school... receives fallen women and wayward girls who desire reform, or who are placed here by relatives. Common school branches, sewing, domestic work... when the girls are prepared to take care of themselves suitable places are found. Matrons keep in communication with girls after they leave the home." (2)
Again in 1924, the Home School's purpose changed slightly: "Receives, on request of parents, courts or other social agencies, white girls preferably under the age of 17, residing in Massachusetts..."2 However, the work always relied on "sympathy, occupation and religious influence for reform."3
In 1936, the Bethesda Society changed its name to the "Orchard Home School."
The records include annual reports and other publications of the Society arranged into two series. Annual Reports document the various creating entities: Penitent Females' Refuge and Bethesda Society, Refuge and Bethesda Society, Bethesda Society, and the Friends of the Orchard Home School. Also contains other publications of the Society.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
Collection is arranged into 2 series:
Part of the School of Social Work Library Charities Collection.
Contains the annual reports of the four creating entities (since the development of the society was so complex.) The Annual Reports contain financial statistics, messages from people on the board, member lists, number of women at the refuge, etc. Annual Reports are arranged chronologically.
Box 1
Box 2
Box 2
Box 2
Miscellaneous publications of the Society, arranged chronologically with dates between 1824 and the 1930s.
Box 2
