GOOD-SHEPHERD-HOMES-L Archives

Archiver > GOOD-SHEPHERD-HOMES > 2006-07 > 1153497876


From: "Chandra" <>
Subject: Re: [GOOD-SHEPHERD-HOMES] introduction and research (long)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:04:36 -0500
References: <530.467f37a.31f2382b@aol.com>


Nancymarie,

WOW!! Thank you for sharing all of this info with us!

You have given us plenty to start with. We really appreciate this!

Chandra

----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 09:01 AM
Subject: [GOOD-SHEPHERD-HOMES] introduction and research (long)


>
> Good Morning
> My name is Nancymarie and I am working on my dissertation as a doctoral
> candidate in Cleveland. I have read the GS archives of the group and I
> probably
> can contribute some clarification about the GS homes of the past and the
> current ones in the USA.
> I have done extensive research in the archival records of the GS homes
> and
> sisters. I recently spent several days in the St Louis GS convent working
> with
> the archivist. I will be going back in a few months to help her with the
> archives and do research about facilities. If anyone wants to contact me
> personally for a chat I would be glad to have personal email with a phone
> number. I
> have a Vonage line so I can call anywhere at no long distance fee
> (including
> parts of Europe).
> I did not meet with the diocese archivist where the girls’ records are
> kept.
> I did see some of the more historic things pertaining to the girls in the
> GS homes as noted below. In general my research is mostly about
> facilities and
> some sisters and does not include finding individual girls. Here are a
> few
> of my notes.
> 1. Diocese archives about the girls are kept in St Louis or New
> York.
> Researchers can go to the diocese archives for a few hours. After the
> initial
> few hours they charge $50.00 per hour and $0.50 per copy of a page!!
> There
> used to be 9 provinces, but now are only 2 for entire world. The diocese
> is
> the repository for all the girls’ records.
> 2. Records about the sisters are kept at the convent in the
> Provincialate (St. Louis and New York) The convent is a different
> archival place than
> the diocese.
> 3. Every girl was documented. The sisters did not destroy girls’
> records. This documentation and document retention was part of the
> instruction from
> the foundress. They documented notes about why each girl was there, who
> brought her and why she left. (I did see the very first ledger and the
> first
> entries (1843) as part of the history. )
> 4. I saw the ages of the first entrants and was very shocked. The
> youngest girl I saw in the first ledger records was around 14 and the
> oldest was
> 70 yrs. Sounds strange, but in 1843, A hubby could dump the wife there.
> Usually alcoholism, infidelity, or other “vice”. Incredible notes were
> kept. I
> only saw the historic first notes. The bulk of the girls’ notes are kept
> with
> the diocese archives not at the convents.
> 5. The GS homes were not essentially orphanages, although in a pinch
> there were a few GS like that on a temporary basis (mostly in Europe). If
> a
> home was leaning toward an orphanages’ need, another order of sisters or
> nuns
> took over and the GS moved to another city or country where they were
> needed to
> “save the girls’ souls”.
> 6. As of 1957, there were 57 homes in the USA. Now there are 3 GS
> homes left on a small scale (Detroit, Baltimore, and Clark Summit, PA).
> The
> majority of the homes were closed or changed to day treatment because of
> money
> problems.
> 7. Most of the current GS work is social counseling in out treatment
> centers. They have some residential half-way houses in the USA. They do
> have
> more active GS groups in other areas of the world (Asia, Africa, and
> Australia). I personally met many sisters from all over the world.
> 8. Very few pregnant girls were accepted. They were with the nursing
> sisters (Charity or Mercy) until the baby was born and adopted out. Then
> the
> girl went into the GS home until released, graduated from high school, or
> escaped. GS had a few unwed homes, like in Independence, Ohio for
> example. The
> Protestants, like the Salvation Army had far more maternity homes (Booth
> Hospitals, Critenden homes).
> 9. Most “inmates” were consigned to the GS by the court or brought
> in
> as “naughty girls” by a relative. In the first ledgers the girls are
> listed
> as penitents, not inmates. Inmates terminology came along with high
> volume
> court consignment after the Civil War. Some girls were shipped in from
> other
> countries (Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Australia, and Sweden)
> 10. A few girls were voluntary entrants to escape a bad home life.
> 11. The early girls were there to be confined for whatever
> “transgression”
> they committed. After 1921 the focus was “Re-Education” and better
> preparation for the world.
> 12. I noted very few deaths in batches among the sisters and the girls.
> This
> is significant because they lived in close quarters and diseases were
> easily
> spread before antibiotics were used. The girls had good health care, food
> and cleanliness. This is obvious if you compare these groups with the
> women’s
> prisons of the time. This is remarkable because they did the hospital
> laundry
> during the 1918 flu epidemic where so many people died, especially those
> in
> close quarters like military…
> 13. They were racially segregated until 1960ish. They had white GS homes
> and
> colored GS homes. The segregated homes were active and full in Chicago.
> 14. They did physical tasks to earn their keep and learn productivity
> (sewing, laundry, etc) This also helped to support the GS home.
> 15. Not all girls were Catholic. I even saw some early religions listed
> as “
> Infidels”
> 16. They were not encouraged to join the Catholic church (at least not
> overtly). They were not permitted to become sisters. If they had a
> special
> devotion develop inside, they could later become a Magdalen consecrate,
> but not a
> sister.
>
>
> ==============================
> Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so much more.
> Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. Learn more:
> http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx
>
>

This thread: