Tuesday, September 29, 2020 – No retirement paradise, but a better place than the alternatives
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
The
169th Edition
From Our Archives
THE CITY HOME
FOR DEPENDENTS
WELCOME TO WELFARE ISLAND
City Home: Group on ferry “Col. Clayton.” Patients, staff on outing, 1947
The Almshouse, later called the City Home existed on the island from the late 1820’s until 1953 when it closed permanently. The residents were called inmates, at times. The treatment varied according to differentl stories. The home was located mid-island around the Chapel of the Good Shepherd which opened in 1889.
All the images here are on the website of the Municipal Archives of the City of New York, To see larger more clear versions, go to nyc.gov/records, then to Historical Records, then to Collections. Check Digital Collections and input WELFARE ISLAND CITY HOME.
OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL
City Home: Catholic Church under construction. Our Lady Consoler of the Afflicted
IN THE DINING ROOM
City Home, Male Dining Room. Elderly men seated at large round tables.
IN THE KITCHEN
City Home District: Worker stands next to coffee roasting machine. (DPC first roasted its own coffee in 1914.) Our first Starbucks?
City Home: General Kitchen; workers in aprons stand in brick-walled room.
Butchers at work in main kitchen, 1950
City Home: Kitchen workers at stoves, stirring huge vats, etc., 1950
RECREATION
City Home, Indoor Recreation Center (“Klondike”). Long single-story structure; male patients seated outside.
City Home: Male Day Pavilion. One-story multi-windowed structure. Outdoor benches alongside.
City Home: Men seated on benches in Recreation Hall. The hall was nick-named the Klondike. It had glass walls and families of the staff would join the residents for entertainment
City Home Orchestra entertains elderly residents in courtyard of large building, Welfare Island.
City Home, Summer Recreation Program. Outdoor orchestra (Welfare Island?)
City Home, Recreation Park, showing bandstand. Patients seated on benches under trees in background.
Ladies seated in wooded area.
City Home: Large group of old men crowded in grounds, as if waiting to enter through gate in foreground.
City Home: Large group of old women seated on benches in clearing in front of stone building. All wear bonnets.
CELEBRATIONS
“FASHION COMES TO THE POORHOUSE”
October 10, 1938
New York…An inmate of the Home for the Aged on Welfare Island is shown here exhibiting her new gown to other inmates after the Department of Hospitals had approved the first change in garb for the city guests in nearly 100 yeas, The shapeless Cotton “Mother Hubbard”worn by the women are now being replaced with flowery percales in the latest fashion. The new styles will be distributed among 1,724 guests at the Home for the Aged and 1,103 guests at the City’s farm colony in West Brighton, Staten Island…
THE ACCOMMODATIONS
City Home main street: one- and two-story brick buildings; men seated and walking down the street. The original Main Street, 1948
City Home: Female barracks; 2-story stone building with 1st and 2nd floor balconies
City Home, Women’s Blind Ward. Elderly woman sits by bed, holding pocketbook. Empty beds. (Most patients are outdoors.)
City Home, Male Ward, showing crowded conditions.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Two images of blind men weaving rugs.
THE STAFF LIVED HERE TOO
City Home District: Officers’ residences. Two-story wooden bungalows. These were located near Blackwell House.
City Home: Exterior of old 3-story brick building containing main kitchen and help’s dormitory.
City Home District Fire Department Engine #49 (Tall 3-story building and 1-story extension.)
City Home, Two old women with wooden pails scrub entry to South Pavilion.
City Home: Ten old women holding buckets, standing in front of 1-story wooden house wedged between 2-story houses.
TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
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MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
BLACKWELL HOUSE FACING QUEENS, WHICH WAS
THE ORIGINAL FRONT ENTRY
No one guessed!!!
OOPS… WE MISSED THIS ONE. THIS IS THE LAMP FROM INSIDE THE R.I. LIGHTHOUSE WHICH WAS ON THE WEEKEND’S EDITION.
CLARIFICATION
WE ARE HAPPY TO GIVE WINNERS OF OUR DAILY PHOTO IDENTIFICATION A TRINKET FROM THE VISITOR CENTER.
ONLY THE PERSON IDENTIFYING THE PHOTO FIRST WILL GET A PRIZE.
WE HAVE A SPECIAL GROUP OF ITEMS TO CHOOSE FROM. WE CANNOT GIVE AWAY ALL OUR ITEMS,. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES,
WE MUST LIMIT GIVE-AWAYS. THANK YOU
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EDITORIAL
Today are images, all from the Municipal Archives of the City Home. The home is long gone and in 1953 the remaining residents were discharged to Coler Home of the Staten Island Farm Colony.
Many of the buildings would have been worthy of exterior restoration, but in the 1970’s demolition was the order of the day.
Judith Berdyjbird134@aol.com
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c)
Roosevelt Island Historical Society
unless otherwise indicated
Wikipedia for both
THIS ISSUE COMPILED FROM THE WONDERFUL ARCHIVES
OF THE
SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM (C)
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
Copyright © 2020 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
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