Library of Virginia
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Processed by: Jessica Tyree
Portions of the collection are closed to the public for a set period of time, and can only be accessed with the prior permission of the Children's Home Society of Virginia. See notations in Contents List for details.
There are no restrictions.
Children's Home Society of Virginia, 1902-2008. Accession 44227. Organization records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Gift of the Children's Home Society of Virginia, 6 March 2009.
The Children's Home Society of Virginia was organized in 1899, and chartered by the General Assembly on 30 January 1900. Inspired by the work of the National Children's Home Society, it was born of concern on the part of its founders for the plight of abandoned and neglected children. As stated in its charter, the Society's goal was "finding family homes for homeless, indigent, or dependent poor children in the State of Virginia, and other purposes incident thereto."
The Board of Directors selected John Garland Pollard (future governor of Virginia) as the Society's first president and the Reverend William J. Maybee as state superintendent. Maybee, who was to hold that position for nearly 30 years, articulated the ethos of the Society when he wrote in 1903 that "We are not to imagine that children of humble birth are therefore inferior, on the contrary the homeless child of the street is of the same clay as the petted darling of the wealthy...Both Christianity and civilization may be quite correctly measured by their treatment of childhood."
The Society received children in one of two ways, parental placement or court commitment. Representatives of the CHS traveled the state gathering children who were made wards of the Society and brought them back to Richmond. The children then underwent "a thorough system of renovation" that included the provision of "clean and comfortable garments," basic etiquette training, and examinations by medical and psychological doctors.
Initially, wards were placed under the care of Rev. Maybee's wife, Mary McLeod Maybee, and the Belle Bryan Day Nursery. In 1905, the Board purchased a house at 2605 East Franklin Street to serve as a receiving home and central office; another receiving home was opened in Roanoke in 1920. Local advisory boards around Virginia handled much of the recruitment and screening of foster families, and helped monitor foster placements. Those children who were never adopted remained the responsibility of the CHS until they reached adulthood, became self-supporting, or married.
Change came to the Society in 1926 when it joined the Child Welfare League of America and began a process of reorganization based on League observations. Their recommendations touched on a variety of areas including fire safety in the receiving homes, hygiene, nutrition, record-keeping, the manner of disciplining the children, the selection of foster homes, and other topics. One major adjustment resulting from the study came with the shift to a staff of trained social workers.
With its budget coming entirely from donations (and, starting in 1930, from the Richmond Community Fund), the Society struggled financially in its early years. By the early 1930's it was in danger of closing under the weight of $50,000 in debt. Led by then-Governor John Garland Pollard and other prominent supporters, the state-wide "Spring Emergency Campaign" of 1931 yielded enough funds to erase the Society's debt and bring a measure of financial stability. The Society later partnered with the United Way for several years as an additional source of funds.
The receiving home was closed in 1934, signaling the Society's move to an emphasis on temporary boarding home (foster) care in advance of permanent adoption placement. As the state became increasingly responsible for the protection of poor, abused, and neglected children, the Society found its niche in the placement of "children born out of wedlock of the higher middle classes, who...are not accepted by their families." Throughout the middle part of the century, the Society only took in infants under six months of age who were deemed "essentially normal," which included "the child with some physical problem who can nevertheless bring great happiness to his parents-by-adoption."
In the 1970's the Society began defining itself as an agency providing adoption services, pregnancy counseling, and foster care. It also started to accept children over the age of six months, and to place children of minority and mixed-race backgrounds. The 1980's and 1990's saw an increase in the Society's work with "hard to place" children, including babies with medical problems, older children, minority children, and sibling groups. This work led to the formation in 1998 of the Partnership for Adoptions (PFA) program. In a cooperative effort between the Children's Home Society, local departments of social services, and clinical professionals, PFA seeks to "train and prepare adoptive families to parent children with special needs." The success of the program has been honored by the National Association of Counties (2000) and with an Adoption Excellence Award (2003) from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
While the Roanoke office and branches in other areas of the state have closed, the Children's Home Society of Virginia remains vital and forward-moving in its second century of service, with offices in Richmond and Fredericksburg. (Up-to-date as of 2010).
Records, 1902-2008, of the Children's Home Society of Virginia include annual reports, board and committee files, clippings, financial and fundraising records, histories of the agency, manuals for CHS services, newsletters, photographs, and posters. This collection does not contain the children's case files.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
I. General Files II. Board and Committee Files III. Financial Records IV. Fundraising V. Photographs and Posters VI. ClippingsGeneral files include annual reports; issues of the quarterly newsletters Home Finder , 1920-1974 and 2000-2003, and Reaching Out to Virginia's Children , 1987-1999; "Happy Endings, " a promotional video about CHS, ca. 2000; publicity, invitations, photographs, and other items pertaining to events such as the Society's 100th anniversary celebration and various fundraisers; a 1964 radio program script; manuals on adoption and foster care (or "boarding") procedures; various overviews of the history, services, and structure of the Society; and limited correspondence, 1929-2006.
Photocopies of publicity, advertisements, etc., regarding the Children's Home society from 1984-1985.
Deconstructed binder with sections labeled "Charter and History," "Board of Directors Advisory Board and Staff," "Personnel Policies," "Program Services," "Financial," and "By-laws."
Three copies with varying components of an informational packet including sections on CHS history, mission, board and staff, services, and revenue.
Correspondence numbers only six letters, and includes a Fredericksburg social worker's objection to the contents of two CHS mailings, 1974, and executive director Philip D. Holzman's response to a letter, 1982, questioning the organization's attempts to raise funds "for babies and small children you do not have."
This correspondence contains identifying information about children in the Home's care and is closed to the public until 2026. Permission to view before 2026 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
Promotional video about the Children's Home Society of Virginia. Includes testimonials from adoptive parents, adoptees, birth mothers, and CHS staff.
Various memos, late 1940's-early 1960's, on aspects of the CHS including the fee system, the Memorial Fund, intake policy, placement statistics, and organizational structure; staff meeting minutes from late 1946; and a short history of the Southwest Branch, 1947.
Thesis for Master of Science in Social Work, College of William and Mary.
This quarterly newsletter typically included updates on the work of the Society, stories about children still in the care of the Society and ones who had already been adopted, fundraising appeals, thoughts on relevant topics in adoption, and essays on the value of adoption. Early issues feature many "before and after" studio portraits of children "as received" and after being taken into the care of the Society, along with notes on their progress.
This quarterly newsletter typically included updates on the work of the Society, stories about children still in the care of the Society and ones who had already been adopted, fundraising appeals, reports of events such as the Centennial Gala, thoughts on relevant topics in adoption, and essays on the value of adoption. The publication's name was changed from Home Finder at some point but restored in 2000. See also several issues, 1987-1999, of the re-named newsletter, Reaching Out to Virginia's Children .
The quarterly newsletter of the Children's Home Society. The publication was originally named the Home Finder , but changed to Reaching Out to Virginia's Children for several years before resuming its former name in 2000. See also issues of the Home Finder , 1920-1974 and 2000-2003.
Minutes and records from the governing Boards of the main office (Richmond), 1923-1987, and the Southwest Branch (Roanoke), 1904-1973. Board minutes touch on a range of topics, including property and financial matters, service statistics, personnel changes, fundraising, relevant legislation, community partnerships, and the relationship of the state office and the Roanoke branch. At times (particularly in earlier years), specific cases are discussed; as a result, access to many of these records is restricted. Please note that in some cases committee files were interfiled with the Board files. Therefore, it is best to check the records of each of the entities for a given time period in order to catch all relevant material. Other groups represented in this series include the Friends of the Children's Home Society and the Northern Virginia Advisory Committee.
Arrangement: The series is arranged by office, with the Richmond files coming first (Boxes 9-16), followed by the Southwest Branch (Roanoke) files (Boxes 10-18). The Southwest Branch minutes are arranged in order of loose papers first, followed by volumes. There is some overlap between the two sets. There are occasional references to the work of the Southwest Branch in the Richmond office files and vice versa. Also, the records of a 1978 joint meeting between the two boards are filed towards the end of the Richmond section, in Box 16.
Due to privacy concerns, portions of this Series are closed for a period of years, unless prior permission is obtained from the Children's Home Society of Virginia. See folder listings for more details.
These files contain sensitive information and are closed to the public until 2058. Permission to view before 2058 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
These files contain sensitive information and are closed to the public until 2068. Permission to view before 2068 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
These files contain sensitive information and are closed to the public until 2025. Permission to view before 2025 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
These files contain sensitive information and are closed to the public until 2034. Permission to view before 2034 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
These files contain sensitive information and are closed to the public until 2036. Permission to view before 2036 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
This item contains sensitive information and is closed to the public until 2014. Permission to view before 2014 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
This item contains sensitive information and is closed to the public until 2023. Permission to view before 2023 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
This item contains sensitive information and is closed to the public until 2026. Permission to view before 2026 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
This item contains sensitive information and is closed to the public until 2032. Permission to view before 2032 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
See also Series II for financial records that appear in Board and Finance Committee files.
Arrangement: Volumes are filed at the end of the series.
Due to privacy concerns, portions of this Series are closed for a period of years. Permission to view before end of closure period must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia. See folder listings for more details.
This item contains sensitive information and is closed to the public until 2031. Permission to view before 2031 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
Files pertaining to the fundraising efforts of the Children's Home Society of Virginia, including mailings to donors, and records of gala events and golf tournaments. Please note that some files dealing with funding provided by the Old Dominion Foundation in the late 1950's contain potentially identifying information about children who were helped with the funds. As a result, these files are restricted.
Due to privacy concerns, portions of this Series are closed for a period of years. Permission to view before end of closure period must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia. See folder listings for more details.
This folder is closed to the public until 2059 due to privacy concerns. Permission to view before 2059 must be obtained in advance from the Children's Home Society of Virginia.
Among the photographs are a large number of professional portraits, mostly of infants, many taken for use in the Home Finder . Also of interest are two posters, both created ca. 1903. One features photographs of the early leaders of the Children's Home Society, including John Garland Pollard and the Reverend William J. Maybee. It also lists the members of the Board of Directors, and gives a general overview of the services performed by the Society. The other features six sets of before-and-after photographs showing children "as received" and later, after spending some time in the care of the Society or being adopted. The photographs are accompanied by captions such as "homeless," "in a county poorhouse," and "beaten and abused by worthless parents" for the before pictures and "anchored," "now a daughter in a good home," and "two years training in family life" for the after shots.
These photographs are closed to the public until 2090.
Newspaper and magazine clippings, some left loose and others kept in scrapbooks. A large portion of the clippings are brief items on topics including Children's Home Society fundraising campaigns and personnel changes on the staff or Board of Directors; other clippings concern associated organizations including Community Chest and United Way branches. There are also more lengthy feature stories on the Society and some of its clients. Of note is a collection of articles regarding a child named Andrew who was born in 1984, essentially without a brain, and placed by the CHS in an adoptive home. Other clippings focus on general issues in the field of adoption.