Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York

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Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York
SuccessorJewish Child Care Association (JCCA)
Established1860; 164 years ago (1860)
Dissolved1941; 83 years ago (1941)
Legal statusOrphanage
Headquarters
1860: Lamartine Place (West 29th Street)
  • 1863: East 77th Street near Third Avenue
  • 1884: Amsterdam Avenue, between 136th and 138th Streets
Location
OriginsMortara case
Region served
New York City
Parent organization
Hebrew Benevolent Society
SecessionsBrooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York (HOA) was a

Jewish orphanage in New York City. It was founded in 1860 by the Hebrew Benevolent Society. It closed in 1941, after pedagogical research concluded that children thrive better in foster care or small group homes, rather than in large institutions. The successor organization is the JCCA
, formerly called the Jewish Child Care Association.

Henry Fernbach designed the asylum building on 77th Street near Third Avenue. The Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum was constructed in Brooklyn, New York. In 1884 the Hebrew Benevolent Society constructed a large orphanage building at Amsterdam Avenue between 136th and 138th Streets. It was designed by William H. Hume in the Modern Renaissance architecture style.

History

The 77th Street building in the 1870s
Amsterdam Avenue building in 1893
WPA mural for the Hebrew Orphan Asylum by William Karp (1938)

In 1822, the

Daniel Tiemann, intervened and broke up the fight.[2]

The practice of holding annual dinners ceased, but the Hebrew Benevolent Society did establish an orphanage, which opened in a rented three story brickhouse on Lamartine Place (now West 29th Street) in

serial novel.[6] In 1874 the organization renamed itself the "Hebrew Benefit Society and Orphan Asylum," and agreed to accept $110 a year in public funds to care for each orphan.[7]

In 1878, the organization, overwhelmed, agreed to accept only Manhattan children. This led to the formation of the

Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of Brooklyn.[7]

Between 1860 and 1919, some 13,500 children were admitted to the home. Few children, however, were adopted, since most were actually half-orphans, members of a family which one parent (usually the father) had deserted and which the surviving parent could not support. The asylum was used, in effect, as a boarding school.[8]

In 1884 the Hebrew Benevolent Society constructed a large building at Amsterdam Avenue, between 136th and 138th Streets, in the Modern Renaissance style, designed by

influenza epidemic of 1918 not a single child in the orphanage died.[9]

In 1915 the Child Welfare Act was passed, which granted allowances to widows. Within two years the orphanage population in the city shrank by 3,000 children as women became able to care for their children.[7] By 1920 the orphanage was losing its position to the Pleasantville Cottage School (established 1912), which, unlike the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, was not a large institutional building but a group of cottages in a rural area.[7] The Hebrew Orphan Asylum decided to rebuild on the cottage system on land that it owned in the Bronx; it would raise money to do this by selling the orphanage to the Yankees, who wanted land to build a rival stadium to the Polo Grounds. This deal fell through, the Yankees instead built a stadium in the Bronx, and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum closed in 1941.[10]

After the Asylum closed in 1941, the building was used by

New York City Department of Parks, who replaced it with the Jacob H. Schiff Playground.[11]

Cultural influences

The California and New York artist Henry Alexander's painting of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum was his favorite work and was found in his studio after his suicide.[12]

The Hebrew Orphan Asylum appears in Gail Carson Levine's book, Dave at Night, under the name the "Hebrew Home for Boys." The protagonist hates the poor food, strict rules, and the bullying, and nicknames the place the "Hopeless House of Beggars" and the "Hell Hole for Brats." The author's father attended the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

Superintendents

Notable alumni

Archival collections

The archives of the institution are on deposit with the American Jewish Historical Society, at New York's Center for Jewish History. The admission and discharge registers for 1860 through 1928 can be searched via the web.

Nearly fifty oral history interviews about the institution are on deposit at the New York Public Library as part of the American Jewish Committee Oral History Collection.

See also

Hebrew National Orphan Home (another Jewish orphanage in New York City)

References

  1. ^ [Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. ]p.17
  2. ^ [Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City.]p.22
  3. ^ a b Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.), " p. 22.
  4. ^ Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.), " p. 30.
  5. ^ Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.), " pp. 30.
  6. ^ Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.), " p. 50.
  7. ^ a b c d e "The History of JCCA: 1822-1915.".
  8. ^ Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York City. (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1992.), "
  9. ^ van Alkemade, Kim. Orphans Together: A History of New York’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum " pp. 3-4.
  10. ^ van Alkemade, Kim. Orphans Together: A History of New York’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum " pp. 7-8.
  11. ^ van Alkemade, Kim. Orphans Together: A History of New York’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum" p. 7-8.
  12. ^ "Artist Alexander Commits Suicide," New York Times, May 16, 1894.
  13. ^ "Guide to the Records of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York, undated, 1855-2013". Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  14. ISBN 9780470849071
  15. ^ Marquard, Bryan (16 March 2008). "Harold Tovish, 86; sculptor was ambitious for excellence". Boston Globe.

Bibliography

Kim van Alkmade, "Orphans Together: A History of New York's Hebrew Orphan Asylum." (includes illustrations).

Hyman Bogen, The Luckiest Orphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992).

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York.
  • Records of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York at the American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY
  • JCCA (formerly called the Jewish Child Care Association), successor organization to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York; also includes pages on the history of Jewish child welfare organizations in New York City
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