Troy Orphan Asylum
Introduction[edit]
Recognizing the poor conditions that children and orphans were subjected to, in the winter of 1800, the Benevolent Society of Troy to Assist Indigent Women and Children was created with the objective to care, provide assistance, and educate destitute children in Troy, New York and the surrounding counties. This asylum was made in 1833, and is now Vanderheyden, a nonprofit based in Wynantskill.
History[edit]
On October 22, 1833, 52 prominent Troy women that were part of this organization gathered in the courtroom of Mayor George Tibbits and proposed an act to create the Troy Association for the Relief of Destitute Children in hopes of gaining government support for their goals. The following year, the name of the organization was later changed to the Troy Orphan Asylum. On April 10, 1835, the institution was incorporated by the State of New York. The institution was managed by a board of 21 trustees and was located in a building on Third Street. In 1836, the institution was moved to a two-story brick building on Eighth Street, which was later destroyed in a fire in 1862. The state of New York and several citizens provided funds to build a new three-story brick building on the east side of Eighth Street in 1863. In 1884, Apollo Commandery provided the means to complete a dormitory on the third story of the building. Finally, in 1891, a group of brick buildings were constructed on a farm donated by Mrs. Mary E. Hart, Mrs. Margaret E. Proudfit, Mrs. Mary B. Tillinghast, and Charles B. Russell, located at 100 Spring Avenue. Here on its tudor-gothic, 15 building campus, the Troy Orphan Asylum housed and educated thousands of orphans and impoverished children.
Martha Van Rensselaer, director of the Cornell College of Economics, used this orphanage, among others, as part of her curriculum. She requested "practice babies" from the orphanage, as a way to teach her students in the 1920s. According to Cornell's library, these children were contractually leased from child welfare organizations. The children were also put on a strict diet with their "practice mothers" as part of the home economics course curriculum. Children at the asylum often ate eggs throughout the day and had chocolate for breakfast. The children were also said to be taken to church on Sundays, and were allowed to regularly venture outside and go to Frear Park.
Vanderheyden Today[edit]
In 1942, the name of the organization was changed to Vanderheyden, in honor of the Van Der Heyden family, with the intention of expanding the scope of the institution to also include those who have experienced family disruption, emotional difficulty, and learning problems. Now headquartered on an 80 acre property in Wynantskill, New York, Vanderheyden programs extend to the surrounding areas of Averill Park, Cohoes, East Greenbush, Glens Falls, Guilderland, Menands, Rensselaer, Schodack, and Troy. Their mission stands to provide people with self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-growth in order to live a fulfilling and sustaining life. On their website, they provide a quote from Dale Carnegie: “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all".
References[edit]
https://archive.org/details/troysonehundredy00weis_0/page/n265/mode/2up?q=%22Troy+Orphan+Asylum%22
https://blog.timesunion.com/history/on-this-date-in-1833/2880/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Orphan_Asylum
https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2018/10/troy-orphan-asylum-vanderheydens-legacy-exhibit-opening/
https://rmc.library.cornell.edu/homeEc/9apartments/asylum.html