Category Archives: Social services

Mary Bryant Home

Posted on March 8, 2020 by editor

The genesis of Springfield’s Mary Bryant Home for the Blind and Visually Impaired was the meager life savings of a blind woman who understood the need for a safe home. Mary Bryant, born in Chicago in 1854, lost her sight … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Public health, Social services, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

‘Humane officer’ report, April 1904

Posted on February 8, 2019 by editor

Charles Stone (1847?-1911) was appointed Springfield’s first humane officer in November 1903. The position was part of the Springfield Police Department, and the humane officer had all the powers of any other police officer, but with the special duty of … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Children, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Prominent figures, Social services | Leave a comment

New Deal projects, 1930s

Posted on January 23, 2019 by editor

Thousands of people clogged downtown Springfield on June 30, 1939, celebrating the fact that streetcar tracks no longer crisscrossed Monroe Street. The giant festival, which included three bands, a jitterbug contest and appearances by city officials, was the climax of … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Buildings, Celebrations, Depression, Local government, Social services, Transportation | 2 Comments

Washington Hall, 1922-26

Posted on May 8, 2018 by editor

In the 1920s, the Washington Street Mission operated a rehabilitation center for young prostitutes in what now (2018) is the Chesapeake Seafood House. The facility closed in 1926, with no publicity and no explanation. Fifty years later, however, the mission’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Crime and vice, Law enforcement, Prominent figures, Social services, Women | 2 Comments

Carrie Post King’s Daughters Home for Women

Posted on March 14, 2018 by editor

The Carrie Post King’s Daughters Home for Women opened on Oct. 7, 1895 with five women already in residence, room for four more, and a cow. It also had the support of hundreds of local church women, a unique force … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Prominent figures, Social services, Women | 8 Comments

Douglass Community Center

Posted on February 6, 2018 by editor

The Douglass Community Center offered civic, social and educational opportunities to African-American residents of Springfield when most similar organizations were closed to blacks. The Douglass center (apparently named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass) opened in 1926. It was phased out as … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Buildings, Children, Ethnic groups, Local government, Social life, Social services, Sports and recreation | Leave a comment

Centennial Co-Operative Educational Congress, 1918

Posted on February 3, 2018 by editor

Black Springfieldians observed Illinois’ 100th anniversary in 1918 with a three-day conference examining the status, progress and prospects of the state’s African-American community. Some 3,000 people attended the Centennial Co-Operative Educational Congress, held Sept. 22-24, 1918, at the Illinois State … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, Lincoln, Abraham, Local government, Prominent figures, Social services | Leave a comment

‘Poor House Rules’ — the drawings of Alfred S. Harkness

Posted on February 26, 2015 by editor

Alfred S. Harkness (1866-1941) was an artist, illustrator and engraver whose specialty — at least for part of the time he lived in Springfield — was public health illustration. Harkness had been a member of the artist staff of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Illustrations, Media, Medicine, Prominent figures, Public health, Social services, Springfield Survey | Leave a comment

Sangamon County Jail conditions, 1847 (Dorothea Dix)

Posted on February 23, 2015 by editor

Social reformer Dorothea Dix wrote the following letter – Dix characterized similar communications as “memorials” — to the Sangamo Journal and Illinois State Register on Feb. 19, 1847. It was published in the March 4, 1847 edition of the Journal. … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Law enforcement, Local government, Public health, Sangamon County, Social services | Leave a comment

Sangamon County Poor Farm

Posted on February 22, 2015 by editor

Sangamon County first created a home to care for the poor, feeble, disabled and mentally ill in 1851, four years after famed social reformer Dorothea Dix wrote a scathing commentary about the county’s practice of keeping paupers and the insane … Continue reading →

Posted in Local government, Medicine, Public health, Sangamon County, Social services | 6 Comments