University of
Minnesota Libraries. Social Welfare History
Archives [swha]
Florence Crittenton Association of American and National
Florence Crittenton Mission,
Florence Crittenton
Collection
1895-1990
28.75 linear
feet
The collection
comprises the records of two organizations--the
National Florence Crittenton
Mission and the
Florence Crittenton Association of
America--that provided residential homes and other services to
unmarried mothers. Included are board of trustees and committee records,
conference proceedings, reports and other publications, financial records and
files on Crittenton homes in approximately 60 cities.
SW0006
English
Administrative Information
Use of Materials
Open for use in Social Welfare History Archives reading room.
Copyright
Please contact the Archivist for copyright information.
Other Finding Aid
Unpublished inventory available. Please contact Archives for more
information.
Arrangement of Records
The Florence Crittenton Collection comprises two related groups of
records from two Crittenton organizations. The
National Florence Crittenton Mission
(NFCM) records consist of 13.75 linear feet of material dating from
1895-1990. The documents include board of trustees and committee records,
reports and other publications, financial records, and files on Crittenton
homes in approximately 60 cities. The NFCM was chartered by Congress in 1898.
Florence Crittenton homes were maternity homes and hospitals established in
cities throughout the U. S. and Canada to provide residential care for
unmarried mothers and their children and to undertake preventive and protective
work for young girls. After the creation of the Florence Crittenton Homes
Association in 1950, the NFCM gradually reduced its involvement in the
operation of the homes throughout the country. It gave up its extension and
clearing-house services and focused primarily on maintaining and supervising
its invested funds, providing the chief means of support for the new
association (and, later, for the Florence Crittenton Division of the Child
Welfare League of America) and awarding grants to individual Crittenton
agencies.
The
Florence Crittenton Association of America
(FCHA) records consist of 15 linear feet of material dating from
1951-1976. Included are board of trustees and committee records, conference
proceedings, reports and other publications, and financial records. The FCHA
was established at a 1950 meeting of the National Florence Crittenton Mission,
upon recommendation from a special committee appointed to study the future of
the mission. The FCHA was an autonomous federation of Crittenton homes financed
partly by the national mission and partly through dues paid by the member
homes. It operated as a separate agency from the NFCM and assumed the
responsibility for work with individual homes as well as the extension and
clearing house services that had previously been provided by the national
mission.
Related Material
In addition to the
National Florence Crittenton Mission
records (SW0006m) and the
Florence Crittenton Association of America
records (SW0006a) , please see the files of the Child Welfare League
of America's Florence Crittenton Division in the
Child Welfare League of America Records
(SW0055) in the Social Welfare History Archives.
Historical Note
Florence Crittenton homes were maternity homes and hospitals
established in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada to provide residential
care for unmarried mothers and their children and to undertake preventive and
protective work for young girls. In 1960, many of the agencies discontinued
their maternity care to emphasize counseling, education, public information,
and advocacy services on behalf of teenagers, and, particularly, unmarried
parents.
The National Florence Crittenton Mission, organized in 1895 and
chartered by Congress in 1898, directed the development of homes in cities
throughout the country, and remained closely involved in their daily
operations. After 1950, the Mission became more detached from the operation of
the homes and functioned more as a foundation, managing its invested funds,
providing financial support to the Florence Crittenton Association of America,
and awarding grants to individual Crittenton agencies.
The Florence Crittenton Association of America (known until 1960 as
the Florence Crittenton Homes Association) was organized in 1950 as an
autonomous federation of Crittenton Homes. Its responsibility for coordination
and program planning and support increased as the National Florence Crittenton
Mission withdrew from those areas. It oversaw the transition from residential
homes to counseling agencies during the 1960s and 1970s as societal attitudes
toward unmarried parenthood changed. In 1976, the Association became the
Florence Crittenton Division of
the Child Welfare League of America.
Scope and Content
The collection comprises the records of two organizations--the
National Florence Crittenton Mission and the Florence Crittenton Association of
America--that provided residential homes and other services to unmarried
mothers. Included are board of trustees and committee records, conference
proceedings, reports and other publications, financial records and files on
Crittenton homes in approximately 60 cities. The records reveal attitudes
toward illigitimacy and trace changing programs and services for unmarried
mothers in the twentieth century. Kate Waller Barrett, Robert South Barrett,
and Adm. John P.B. Barrett are represented in the records as the long-time
presidents of the National Florence Crittenton Mission.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog
of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about
related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these
headings.
National
Florence Crittenton Mission--Archives
National
Florence Crittenton Mission--Archives
Florence
Crittenton Association of America--Archives
Florence
Crittenton Homes Association--Archives
National
Florence Crittenton Mission
Florence
Crittenton Association of America
Florence
Crittenton Homes Association
Unmarried mothers--Services
for--United States--History--Sources
Sex counseling--United
States--History--Sources