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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 2017)
12 A SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017 Oregon’s orphans history reflected in ‘Annie’ P rivately organized in late 1865 by a group of Salem women, the Children’s Aid Society had as its first objective a refuge “for orphaned and friendless chil- dren” anywhere in the state. In 1869, the Glen Oaks Orphans’ Home was built in East Salem on 10 acres of donated land across from what would later become the “insane asylum.” Private donations and mem- berships in the society were sufficient to maintain the home until 1872, when the society requested aid from the Legislature. That initial grant of $3,000 for operating expenses continued for the next 25 years. The county also provided funds. Vice presidents of the soci- ety were appointed for each county in the state. Their responsibilities involved find- ing and transporting any needy children to the Salem home, where the Board of Managers was charged with finding good adoptive homes for the children. After 33 years in existence, the Glen Oaks Orphans’ Home ceased operation in 1898 due to a lack of funding by the Legislature. Homes were found for as many of the 23 remaining children in the orphanage as possible. In 1900, there were close to 1,000 such institutions in the United States housing an esti- mated 100,000 children. There were county orphan- ages, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish orphanages, and non- sectarian children’s homes run by private charities. Most orphanages disappeared in the reforms of the early 20th cen- tury along with poorhouses, tuberculosis sanitariums and other sorts of asylums. An idea for what was to become the Children’s Farm Home outside Corvalis was born in October 1919, when Mary Powers Riley proposed to the Oregon chapter of the Wo m e n ’s C h r i s t i a n Temperance Union that the WCTU assist in building and operating a facility where orphans and other homeless children could live in a home- like environment. The WCTU purchased 253 acres of farm- land in 1922. On Sept. 6, 1923, the Telegraph, a Portland newspa- per, reported that the Klu Klux Klan had pledged $50,000 to a new, Protestant-based orphan- age in the mid-Willamette Valley in what may have been in response to the establish- ment of the Catholic Boys Town by Irish immigrant priest, Father Flanagan. Though the Farm Home has no record of the Klansmen ever making good on their Senior Center presents spaghetti dinner, live music On Saturday, Nov. 18, Florence Senior Center is hosting a spaghetti dinner and live dance music by 3 Man Slam. Dinner is from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. People are encouraged to dance with the great sounds of 3 Man Slam from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Buy tickets in advance for $20 per couple or $10 per person. Tickets at the door will be $30 per couple or $15 per person. There will also be a 50/50 drawing and door prizes. Stop by the Florence Senior Center, 1570 Kingwood St., to purchase tickets. For more information, call 541-997-8844. B Y P AULA Z IEGELASCH L AST R ESORT P LAYERS promise. The WCTU welcomed the first 23 residents of the Children’s Farm Home on July 10, 1923. The WCTU controlled the Farm Home until 1963, though by the late 1950s, the state was paying institutional care only for delinquent and emotionally disturbed children, preferring to use foster homes for other dependent kids. Today, the Children’s Farm Home is operated by Trillium Family Services. Over the second half of the 20th centu- ry, it evolved from an agricul- tural orphanage to a psychi- atric treatment center and is still caring for young people at its now 300-acre site It may have been the popu- lar comic strip Little Orphan Annie, created by Harold Gray and appearing Aug. 5, 1924 in the New York Daily News, that the plight of orphan children sparked a progressive movement lead- ing to social change in the atti- tude of public concern. Cited by Encyclopedia Britannica as “One of the most popular comic strips of all time,” Gray cartoon portrayed the orphan, “Annie,” as a neglected, abused yet positive and hope- ful child of 11. Gray, himself a conserva- tive Republican, was opposed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” and the Social Security Act of 1935, which included provi- sion for aid to dependent chil- dren, crippled children’s pro- grams and child welfare that eventually led to the expan- sion of foster care. Oregon continues to pro- vide state aid to privately-con- ducted charitable institutions. These institutions receive state aid approved when by the state board of health, with the State Board of Control investigating the claims of these institutions, and check- ing the number of inmates and the records. According to Sandy Zinn, Research Librarian at the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, there were no orphanages in Florence as the population didn’t warrant it. However, earliest records do show that a woman in Ada was known to have taken in children in need. “The average child will be placed in foster home seven times” according to adoptive parent and social commentary writer Kenneth A. Camp. “The one consistency these kids have is the friends they develop in school and even perhaps with a trusted teacher, so having to locate out of their school district may contribute to their hardships,” he wrote. To d a y, t h e O r e g o n Department of Human Services estimates there are some 10,000 children living in, or needing, a foster home in Oregon. There is currently a critical need for Oregon fos- ter families. They have indicated a par- ticular need to locate foster families in Florence. Because of this, The upcoming Last Resort Players production of “Annie, the Broadway Musical” will sponsor a raffle to help benefit PASS q PORT ART FLORENCE | OREGON the unplaced foster children of Florence. Performances at the Florence Events Center (eventcenter.org) continue this weekend, Nov. 10, 11 and 12. To help you navigate all the Florence art community has to off er Pick Up YOURS Today! Passports are available at the following locations: Florence Area Chamber of Commerce Th e Siuslaw News FRAA - Florence Regional Arts Alliance Backstreet Gallery Vardanian Gallery Th e River Gallery Rodger Bennett Photography Purple Pelican Siuslaw Public Library Florence Events Center Florence City Hall BeauxArts Fine Art Materials & Gallery
