The Institutional Records of
The Johns Hopkins Hospital Colored Orphan
Asylum
Brief History
Scope of the Records
Brief History
It was the desire of Johns Hopkins that the bulk of his estate be
used for the establishment of a university and a hospital. However,
he also specified in his will that in conjunction with the establishment
of a hospital he also wanted a colored orphan asylum built separate
from the hospital but managed by the hospital trustees and operated
by their funds. In 1875 the asylum opened at 206 E. Biddle Street in
Baltimore with twenty six children. In 1894, it moved to Remington
Avenue. In 1913, the Hospital’s Board of Trustees converted the
asylum into a convalescent home and school for crippled colored children
who had received orthopedic treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The
former wards of the asylum were placed under the supervision of the
social service department of the hospital, at other schools, or with
families. In 1917, the convalescent home closed. In 1924, the remaining
orphans of the asylum reached the age of majority, and the social worker
in charge of their care reported that her work was completed.
Scope of the Records
Much of the basic history of the Colored Orphan Asylum may be found
in minutes of the Hospital’s Board of Trustees. The few surviving
records of the asylum are a minute book of the committee on the Colored
Orphan Asylum and financial ledgers and bills.
Series a. Committee on the Colored Orphan Asylum, 1898-1905.
This volume contains brief handwritten minutes of the Committee on
the Colored Orphan Asylum. Included is a printed copy of the
Asylum’s bylaws and
rules.
Series b. Financial Records, 1895-1923.
The financial records are petty cash books showing daily expenses.
These are primarily food and loose bills covering all types of expenses
such as food, clothes, fuel,transportation, and health care.
