Examining the Cambridge Poor Farm 2-2

If you stumble upon this post, I'd recommend reading Examining the Cambridge Poor Farm 1-2 first.

It dawned on me that I would have ended up there. Cerebral shunts weren’t even invented until the late 1800′s and probably not even remotely safe for most patients until the 1900′s...Eventually I would be considered invalid, and with no source of income I would be sent to the Poor Farm. Maybe I would do some light quarry work or net some fish, but more likely I would spend my days moaning in pain on a dirty floor while the orphans try to avoid me or steal my food. -- From Baron Barometer's Brain Blog 

Cambridge Poor Farm

Located on the most northern corner of the city of Cambridge, the Cambridge Poor Farm was established in 1851. At the almshouse, "the elderly and 'the deserving poor' lived among the sick and the insane" until its closure in 1927.

Continuing from the previous post, I've been investigating this less known piece of Cambridge history together with the 1851 Cambridge Chronicle article. What intrigues me the most is that how the historic event, philosophy, and public sentiment of the time reflected the walls of those institutions. Now, I'll continue the virtual tour. Let's go to 3rd floor.

Click picture to enlarge -- from Cambridge Chronicle

The upper floors

As I have explained in the previous post, 3rd floor had the same layout as 2nd floor: consisting with the workroom and dormitories divided by sex. But there were a few notable differences between the floors. On 3rd floor, the extreme ends of the east and west wings functioned as  hospital wards. Especially, the hospital ward at the men's (east) wing, two rooms were given to "inmates" who were "dangerously sick" or "in a dying stage".

Segregation or benevolent division? 

One more notable distinction between 2nd and 3rd floor is that the upper floor was dedicated to the "American poor". Conversely, it meant that the floor below was allocated to the "non-American poor". Wait, wait. What does an "American" mean in the sense of 1851?

In 1847 alone, 25,000 Irish immigrated to the City of Boston to escape the Great Famine of 1845. By 1850, 1/3 of the Boston population was Irish. Our North Cambridge also hold Irish neighborhoods such as "Dublin" and "New Ireland" around the time. Those communities accommodated workers for a nearby brickyard. There had been a much smaller almshouse nearby the neighborhoods, which was eventually alternated by the almshouse I'm investigating today.

 Second Town Poor House est. 1786

Click picture to read

I used to naively think: "what's the matter, the 'American' and the 'Irish' speak the same language!"  But when I observed how the tombstones at the Metfern Cemetery in Waltham --where some state hospital patients between 1947 and 1979 were buried-- were distinguished by Catholic and Protestant, the austere concrete blocks gave me an impression that the separation was, or some may say is, the norm of the local culture. Is it a benevolently intentioned custom to "avoid unnecessary confusion" for both sides? Or is it a fear and prejudice against the new wave of immigrants? I guess the picture is muddy; generally speaking, such a seemingly good-intentioned custom that draws a line between certain groups could lead to an established segregation practice.

@ Metfern Cemetery: "C" stands as "Catholic"

From the tone of the Cambridge Chronicle article, the separation practice at this almshouse seemed to start from the "good-hearted" intention; the article proudly stats the division as "So far our knowledge extends, this is the first provision of the kind ever carried out in practice."

The Cambridge Poor Farm had a chapel on 4th floor, and I wonder how did they divide Protestants and Catholics in terms of the chapel use.

Benevolent miscalculation?

You might notice it already, but there is a one big change between the now and then picture:

Look and compare the east (right) wing for male. The male dormitory underwent an expansion in 1915. It looks like the men's dormitory stretched twice as long! But what was the implication of the expansion? Did Rev. Dwight and Bryant thought the male: female inmate ratio would be equal, but the city later realized more accommodation was  required for male inmates? Even without mentioning George Orwell's observation, there are more male homeless than the female counterpart.

Aerial view of the Cambridge Poor Farm, from Google Map

Only 12 years after the expansion, the city relocated the almshouse to the new City Home for Aged and Infirm on Concord Avenue. The site of the Cambridge Poor Farm was sold to the Catholic Church, and  the building was converted to a parish school. Sometimes around 1999, the International School of Boston renovated the building to the current use.

My observation on the Cambridge Poor Farm ends here. I thank the Cambridge Room archivist who showed a genuine intellectual interest in my "creepy and strange" investigation and found the 160 year old article from a stack of microfilms. You should visit there! The powerful opening was cited from the Baron Barometer's Brain Blog. His stark observation on what would happen to him if he was a 19th century man sure grabbed my mind, and I'm glad such a badass guy is in 21st century Somerville!  

What else I'd say... If you spent some time in this building as a student or whatever, and a certain descriptions of the building ring a bell (i.e.: "No wonder why that room used to be a hospital ward for dying men."), please feel free to leave a message or send an e-mail to: creepychusetts[at]gmail.com. 

Locate Cambridge Poor Farm @ Google Map

Click Picture to Read

Click Picture to Read

<sources>
Cambridge Historical Commission. Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Report Five Northwest Cambridge. Cambridge: MIT, 1977.
"The New Alms-house." Cambridge Chronicle 22 Mar.1851: 1
Klein, Christoper. Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands. Boston: Union Park Press, 2008.

Brain Blog: History Around Every Corner: http://www.baronbarometer.com/?p=248
History of the International School of Boston: http://www.isbos.org/page.cfm?p=10
Cambridge Poor Farm, Creepy-chusetts, Strange-chusetts: http://creepychusetts.blogspot.com/2010/11/cambridge-poor-farm-cambridge.html

Examining the Cambridge Poor Farm 1-2

Wow, time flies. I started my blog "Creepy-chusetts, Strange-chusetts" on August 24, 2010. A year ago, I had little connection with Massachusetts. I knew nobody, I knew nothing about the place! I started the blog hoping to know people in my neighborhood and learn about this tremendously interesting state. The result? It has been great. The idea for my blog is still bottomless, and I hope I can continue my "quirky" adventure further. I thank all the readers and people I became to know through my investigation.

Today, I'd like to introduce what I found through my little research about an ex-almshouse in my neighborhood. Together with Gaebler Children's Center in Waltham, this is one of the most memorable places for me because I became to know some fabulous people though the investigation. -- Shuko K.

Then: from Cambridge Chronicle Mar. 22, 1851

Now: Aug., 2011

The city of Cambridge deserves infinite credit for its great liberality and intelligence in erecting such an edifice, and it can without presumption, take to itself the honor of having within its borders one of the best Almshouses in the country; a distinction more to be envied than its fine churches, public buildings or even its world-renowned Harvard University. --  from Cambridge Chronicle, March 22, 1851

The Cambridge Poor Farm is a less known sister of the Charles Street Jail (now the Liberty Hotel) in Boston. Planned by Gridley J. F. Bryant and Rev. Louis Dwight -- both progressive prison reformers of the time-- and completed in 1851, the almshouse housed "orphans, paupers, the elderly, and the insane" of the city of Cambridge. Approximately 30,000 dollars were spent in completing the almshouse. The building is currently utilized as an international school.

After several visits to the newly opened Cambridge Room at the Cambridge Public Library, the archivist found a piece of rather obscure history from our local newspaper, the Cambridge Chronicle. Together with other sources and my past post,  today I'll show you what I found thorough this mini research. Before I embark on the virtual tour, I want you to keep in mind that the Cambridge Poor Farm was established under the progressive philosophy and state-of-the-art architectural design. While investigating, I thought some of the practices employed at the poor farm were out-dated or even dubious from the contemporary eyes. On the other hand, I feel those practices are well ingrained to our consciousness; they become more coded and subtly nuanced. Even so, it is worth while seeing from a perspective that the almshouse was regarded as one of the greatest civil achievements of the 19th century Cambridge.

The article, which was printed for the March 22, 1851 edition, gives a detailed explanation of the original structure. The basic principal throughout the building was: the front wing for the administrators, the east (left) wing for female "inmates", and the east (right) wing for male "inmates". The central building, which was usually partitioned by sex, was devoted to a working or communal space. For example, the below is the original drawings of the basement floor:

Click picture to enlarge -- from Cambridge Chronicle

Dungeons!

The basement floor (S: I believe this is the floor the current entrance is situated, so I count this floor as the first floor) chiefly functioned as the kitchen, dining, bathing, and laundry spaces.What struck me the most is the existence of punitive cells:

On this floor of the east and west wings are Punishment Cell for refractory inmates, which can be made quite dark, or graduated to different degree of light (Cambridge Chronicle 1).

While the word "cell" is conveniently not-present from the floor plan, quite possibly the spaces between No. 9 and 8 in the East Wing and No. 10 and 11 in the West Wing were allocated as the cells.

The use of light and darkness intrigues me the most. I assume the degree of darkness corresponds with the one of inmates undesirable behaviour; the darker (and quieter) the cell gets, the more refractory the contained inmate is. Rev. Dwight was a prison reformer who had a strong belief in the Auburn System of penitential management, and he must have believed that man only could be compliant by placing him to silence. Darkness played the visual indicator of the degree of silence.

Click picture to enlarge -- from Cambridge Chronicle

2nd and 3rd floor functioned as workshops and dormitories. Separated by a partition, the male and female inmates were completely segregated. For example, the woman's dormitory was on the west wing, and some of them worked on the west side of the central building during the day. If the almshouse adopted Rev. Dwight's Auburn System, the work room should have kept completely silent. But how about the inmates who were assigned to work on the field or at the nearby Alewife brook? How could the men cast and drag a fishing net without shouting? And I wonder how strict the gender division was supervised for the outside labor. 

Control through architectural design

What I'm generally interested in the 19th century prisons and institutions is that how the authority created an effective observation system through the architectural design. I'll cite some of the mentions about the observation system gained through the design.

These (S: workshops) are in the octagonal section. A partition runs directly across the centre of the building, this dividing in half. One part is for women and one for men. This arrangement admits of complete supervision, on overseer being enabled with all ease to superintend both departments (Cambridge Chronicle 1).

Dwight and Bryant conceived the Alms House on a radial plan, having a central block for supervised activity and separate residential wings for men and women. This concept was based upon 18th century English prototypes and Dwight's long experience with the prison reform movement in the United States (Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge 131).

In my view, the most notable example of the prison design is the Jeremy Bentham's  Panopticon (i.e. Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois). But the radial plan represented by the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was also widely applied to the prison design worldwide. In any ways, the Cambridge Poor Farm was designed to aim for the efficient supervision through architectural design. You can see how simple and efficient the Rev. Dwight and Bryant's plan was by comparing a proposed plan by Ammi B. Young:

Click picture to enlarge--from Cambridge Historical Commission

Rev. Dwight and Bryant's plan must have been chosen by the city because of the expected ease of surveillance through design; if you were a keeper of the almshouse, which plan would you like to adopt?

Ok, I end today's post here. In next few days (I hope...), I'll post more about the upper floors and some of the notable functions of the building I'd like to show. Bye bye now.

Continue to: Examining the Cambridge Poor Farm 2-2

Locate Cambridge Poor Farm @ Google Map

Tewksbury State Hospital Cemetery, Tewksbury

Continue from: Stonecroft @ Tewksbury Hospital, Tewksbury

There are two cemeteries for Tewksbury State Hospital. The one I visited is called "the Pines Cemetery". The other is simply called "the Pauper Cemetery". They are located in separate woodlands nearby the hospital. According to the Public Health Museum, approximately 15,000 patients, who had no relatives claimed their bodies, are buried in those no-name cemeteries. Apparently, the records between 1854 and 1894 are missing, but at least the patients deceased between1891 and 1930 are buried in the Pines Cemetery. In the Pauper Cemetery, the burials took place as late as 1960's.

Established in 1892, Tewksbury Hospital was originally called as the Tewksbury Almshouse. Many of them were destitute immigrants notably from Ireland. In addition to the poor, they accepted the "pauper insane", alcoholics, and patients with such contagious disease as TB.

Old Administration Building/ Public Health Museum 

One of the many reasons why I visited the Public Health Museum was to gather information about the cemetery. Usually, consulting a map and some web sites suffice the function. But look at this... 

Google Street View of the Pines Cemetery

No way I'm going to visit the cemetery without the firsthand information, I thought. Helpful guides at the museum provided detailed information about the cemetery, encouraging me to visit there. So I decided to go.

Ok, it doesn't look so intimidating on a hot sunny day. But I didn't bring a bunch of flower...so I went for a rudimentary measure by picking wild flower and put it on a stone hedge. I set my foot onto the pine woods.

There are at least two graves around the snapped tree; click picture to find them

The grave marker in the Pines Cemetery is made of metal and has a cross surrounded by a laurel wreath. Like numerous state hospital cemeteries in Massachusetts, the only information that distinguishes one from another is a number on the center of the cross.

A new guide told me that she was surprised how obscure those markers were when she first visited the cemetery. "If you aren't careful, you'll step on them!" She told me. I was puzzled by her statement because the museum display of the markers were well over 12-inch high.

She was right. Some of the markers were buried deep. 100 years are long time, the forest soil accumulates. The rusty color blended into the surrounding, making it more difficult to spot.

It was the first summer day, hot and humid. Mosquitoes seemed to be waiting for THIS day. I was the prime subject for their feast. I was the walking cocktail platter for them. Why could they sting through my thick, stripy sailor shirt?

Sorry sorry, I forgot a flower bouquet but I searched for an hour...With a rather illogical reasoning for the mosquito siege, I was running through the woods in a nearly panicked state.

Although more sporadic, the markers were located even in the middle of the woods. "How big is the cemetery? Can I go through this?" I began to feel the past and the present were finally connected through the landscape. The sheer number of the anonymous markers spoke about the scale and gravity of the hardship against the destitute.

I finally came to the south side of the cemetery. The grave markers were densely arranged but I somehow felt they were less lonely compared to the sporadically placed markers in the middle of the woods.

One, two, three...Uh-oh

The attack of the mosquitoes became less intense, and I felt more relaxed...But oh boy, I was running on poison ivy.

According to the information in 2004, local volunteers, Eagle Scouts, and Boy Scouts routinely maintain the ground. But it's such a large cemetery; the section the job has done will overgrow again when they finish the last section. Considering from how the grave markers are placed, it is almost impossible to cut the grass with mowing machines. Everything has to be done by hand. Poison Ivy is a big headache among the volunteers.

Fresh paint were on some of the grave markers, suggesting there is a sustained local effort to maintain the ground. But the other location nearby a middle school does not seem to be as maintained as the Pines Cemetery is. Remember, about15,000 people were buried in the two locations. We have a lot of job that has to be done. 

RIP

I thank helpful guilds at the Public Health Museum for providing insightful, valuable information of the hospital, cemetery, and history of public health. I recommend you to visit the museum! Museum URL: http://www.publichealthmuseum.org/

Locate Tewksbury State Hospital Cemetery @ Google Map

http://www.tewksburyhospitalcemetery.ma-vitalrecords.org/recordsindex.html
http://www.tewksburyhospitalcemetery.ma-vitalrecords.org/mota.html
http://www.tewksburyissues.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=5797

Stonecroft, Tewksbury

Reminder: Stonecroft sits in the middle of an active hospital property. Please respect hospital workers and patients and do not disturb the property.

Continue from Tewksbury Hospital, Tewksbury

Conditions at the Tewksbury Almshouse were deplorable. Chronically underfunded, overcrowded and in disrepair, the Almshouse housed an average of 940 men, women and children during the years that Sullivan was there. The mortality rate was very high, and within three months of their arrival, Jimmie Sullivan died. --From Perkins School for the Blind

Stonecroft, Rear

Tewksbury Hospital was established in 1852 as a state-run almshouse. Over the years, the almshouse experienced diversified operation, began accepting "pauper insane" in 1866. Alcoholics were also admitted as a course of expansion. In the early 20th century, more facilities were added to treat patients with TB, small pox and typhoid.

Stonecroft, Front

"It used to be 'the place to die'." The guide at the Public Health Museum said. "It took quite a time to remove the image."

Anne Sullivan's brother Jimmy was one of the numerous sick paupers who were admitted to the Tewksbury just waiting to die. He supposedly died from TB like his mother did. Considering from her background as a nearly blind, destitute Irish immigrant daughter, I'm now very impressed how much Anne achieved in her life. When I was a kid, she's "the teacher of Helen Keller", but now as a grown-up immigrant woman, I cannot help admiring her guts to fight with her tough upbringing.

Bird's eye view of the hospital in 1930's

Looking at a picture drawn in 1930's,  the guide kept pointing outlying buildings saying, "this is for TB", "this one is also for TB", "this one, too."  He kept going on. The picture was drawn in 1930's. Before the arrival of streptomycin in 1943, good rest, food, and air were the measures against TB.

"This one is for alcoholics."

Finally, something other than TB. Alcoholism was another issue of the time.

From MACRIS database

"We used to admit, what would you say..."

Together with other guide, we began brainstorming for the antiquated term for "traveling homeless who has no intention to work".

"Hobos?"

"Not quite..."

We came up with several words: "vagabonds", "tramps", "vagrants"...anyway, I'll settle as "itinerants".

"They liked Tewksbury over Bridgewater (another state-run almshouse of the time) because they were forced to work there; the rules were very strict at Bridgewater. On the other hand, we didn't force them to work here."

In my mind, the landscape of the interwar London and the US somehow doubled. I guess it's the time to re-read Down and Out in Paris and London.

What is this lodge-like building called "Stonecroft"? After listening to the history of the hospital, I felt this must be related to tuberculosis treatment. I could see this lodge sitting on the hill in Southern Germany or Austria, think about the Sound of Music. All I could imagine from this building was "good air and plenty of sunlight".

TB patients in pre-antibiotic time, from Public Health Museum

However, as the way the facade is clad with dug-up stone suggests, the detail is very vernacular of Massachusetts; I wouldn't be surprised if the WPA built this as a part of job creation projects* during the 30's.

* For the examples of Massachusetts WPA stone-clad structures,  please refer to: Slayton Tower, Melrose; Wright's Tower, Medford.

 WPA mural at Public Health Museum

Guess what, according to the MACRIS database, Stonecroft was built in 1935, just around the time multiple TB wards dotted the Tewksbury Hospital. There was no mention about the WPA, but I feel the chance is high.

I peeked through a broken window to access the current state of the interior. It seemed to be utilized as a  storage space. A cold breeze came through the crack; it was damp and had a smell of dusty mildew. "That's not good for my lung...", I instinctively held my breath.

There is little information available about the original purpose of Sotnecroft. The MACRIS determines this building's significance as "agriculture; Architecture; Health Medicine". Indeed there is an active horse barn just down the hill. The name "croft" also suggest its agricultural nature. My estimation about Stonecroft as the TB ward is quite unlikely; it is more likely one of the farm cottages. But who knows?

I have to remind you that I initially hesitated to post Stonecroft because it sits on a functioning hospital ground. But as an enthusiast of the WPA artifacts, I thought this building is an interesting conglomeration of the history of public work policy, public health, and vernacular architecture; it should attain more positive attention. So, if you know about the history of Stonecroft, I would be delighted to know!

Continue to: Tewksbury State Hospital Cemetery, Tewksbury

Anne Sullivan, Perkins School for the Blind: http://www.perkins.org/vision-loss/helen-keller/sullivan.html
The Public Health Museum, Tewksbury Hospital: http://www.publichealthmuseum.org/index.htm
Tewksbury Mass Historical Properties (PDF): http://www.tewksbury.net/Pages/TewksburyMA_BComm/Historical/list.pdf
Stonecroft, MACRIS database: http://mhc-macris.net/details.aspx?MHCID=TEW.68

Tewksbury Hospital, Tewksbury

Old Administration Building, built 1894

Tewksbury Hospital was one of the state run almshouses established in 1852. The Bridgewater, Monson and Tewksbury Almshouse were opened to accommodate an increasing number of destitute immigrants in Massachusetts.

The Bridgewater Almshouse later become a correctional facility for "criminally insane", and Monson became "Massachusetts Hospital for Epileptics" in 1895. Tewksbury began accepting "pauper insane" in 1866. Alcoholics were treated in the course of expansion. The almshouse/ asylum also admitted patients with such contagious disease as TB, small pox and typhoid, but also remained as an almshouse, especially during the time of the Great Depression.

Wrought Iron Gare, circa 1900

Anne Sullivan was one of the "paupers". Abandoned by an alcoholic father from Ireland, Anne and her brother, Jimmy were admitted to the Tewksbury Almshouse in 1876. Like their mother, Jimmy is said to die from consumption only 3 months after the siblings' arrival to the almshouse.

Currently, Tewksbury Hospital is a state run facility for psychiatric and medical treatment. I visited the hospital for the Public Health Museum*, thinking about obtaining some historic materials and information about the hospital cemetery.

*Open Wednesdays 10am to 2pm, or by appointment. Please refer to my post: Stuck in the Emerson Iron Lung .

After visiting the museum, I decided to walk around the campus because a kid on a horse back caught my attention. I first thought how strange to see a horse on a hospital property, but it seems to be a part of Animal Assisted Therapy; that makes sense.

When established, the hospital was planned according to the cottage plan, a style gained popularity in the late 19th century asylums. Multiple building blocks, chiefly made with redbrick, dotted the broad campus. The patients were assigned to a specific ward or block sorted by the condition, gender, etc. Prior to this, all the types of patients were placed into a single, bat wing shaped building called the Kirkbride plan (i.e.: Danvers State Hospital in Danvers, Our Lady's Hospital in Cork.)

In the cottage plan, each building blocks were usually connected by underground tunnels; Tewksbury Hospital was no exception.

When you visit the museum, I recommend taking a closer look to an areal view of the campus drawn in the 30's. The museum guide who used to be the hospital worker told me the staff used to use tunnels for a dating spot. Since the nurse dormitory on the campus was under the watchful eyes of the superintendent, they met at "a secret spot" where they won't be seen or heard. I guess that's how a romance was carried out in the numerous state hospitals in Massachusetts... I'm thinking about proposing a plot based on hospital tunnels, possibly a noir type, to Scorsese, what do you think?

Currently, the tunnels are used for accommodating boilers, and hospital workers don't use them for going back and forth between buildings, forget about a secret dating spot! But you can still recognize some of the tunnel portals on the campus.

It was past 2pm, and I decided to sit down on a picnic table to eat some snack. I couldn't find any supermarket on the way to the hospital except a huge distribution center for a local supermarket chain.

Nibbling on a granola bar, I felt sort of déjà vu. There is a resemblance to Medfield State Hospital. Medfield was built in 1852, the year the Tewksbury Almshouse was established. The spread out, the cottage plan hospital grounds have a very similar feel of landscape. If Medfield State Hospital wasn't abandoned, it would have looked like Tewksbury, I thought.

In next post, I'll introduce more about Tewksbuty Hospital. Stay tuned.

Continue to: Stonecroft, Tewksbury

Locate Tewksbury Hospital @ Google Map

Tewksbury hospital, mass.gov
The Public Health Museum
Anne Sullivan, Perkins School for the Blind
State Hospitals of Massachusetts, 1856.org
Tewksbury State Hospital, Asylum Projects
Cottage Planned Institutions, Asylum Projects

Faces of The Working Boys Home

(follow up of: Working Boys Home, Newton)

About three months ago, I wrote a short piece about the Working Boys Home in Newton. I stumbled on the place by browsing old maps of Newton in 1903 and 1946. There was (and still is) little historic information available, but the post has been drawing rich, personal experience and history related to the Home. Today, I'll introduce some faces of working boys.

The redbrick with an imposing clock tower was built in 1896. It still sits on top of a pine wood hill. Currently the building is functioning as a Jewish community center but was originally established by the Roman Catholic Church for the boys who were separated from parents.

One day, a reader commented on the post:

Ed G:
I grew up in Newton during the 1950s and 1960s and was always a little bit scared by those words on my local map - Working Boys Home. I feared being sent there if I got into trouble. I finally went there to look when it was the JCC about 10 years ago.

I really loved his personal depiction of the place as a local boy. His rich emotion pertained to childhood about the place must have been shared by the boys in the community. Parents might have used the boys' imagination when they found their boys disobedient. (i.e.: "You are a wicked boy. Your father will sent you to the Home, and you'll work day and night !!") Even for modern eyes, the clock tower on an isolated woodland draws quite a deal of imagination.

He asked about more history and photos of the place, and here is a piece of the WBH history:

1900 Census of WBH (Click picture to view)

The above is a census record of 1900. I obtained the information from another reader who told me that his ancestor was in the Working Boys Home. He explained that his ancestor came to the Home alone, separated from an out-of-wedlock mother. Considering from the stigma attached to unwed mothers  in the Catholic Church, sadly the separation was a common practice.

I somehow had an illusion that people in the past had a better handwriting skill than us the keyboard or touch panel type. But, oh boy, I barely read those. I now have a full respect towards archivists who can decode those scribbles.

What I learned from the census was that they were called "inmate". The majority were born here in Massachusetts but their parents were from Ireland or Italy. The boys' occupations were...let me see..."at school". I originally imagined those boys were working at nearby mills in Newton Falls.

If you have some information or personal history related to the Working Boys Home that you can share with us, please contact me through the below comment section or creepychusetts[at]gmail.com. And I thank the readers who gave me an interesting insight to the Working Boys Home.