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In perusing the maps of Rosebank and Fort Wadsworth I wander a little south of my usual hunting grounds and discovered something new: the Bethlehem Orphan and Half Orphan Asylum. A little quick digging revealed it was a Lutheran (yay) undertaking.
A little more research told me that the orphanage had been founded in 1886 by eleven churches in response to large number of children orphaned during a severe cholera outbreak in NYC. In 1915 they were able to buy about 20 acres of land on Staten Island from the Barrett family.
postcard showing the entrance to the orphanageThe establishment operated until it burned down in 1972. As the social services were turning away from orphanages towards foster care the Lutheran Social Services of New York declined to rebuild it and sold off the property. Today it's a huge tract of typically unattractive townhouses.
New York Times article from 1915
12 comments:
Hi, would love to know where you located some of this information, as I'm researching the same area. Many thanks in advance!
Hope you see this. I take most of my pictures from the NYPL Digital Gallery and a lot of my information from the NY Times archives. If you're a subscriber you have unlimited access to back to 1851. Otherwise I just google and scour what shows up. It's surprising what you can find simply doing that.
I also garnered information from Lutheran Social Services' own website and their history.
I was a guest there for a few years starting in 1959. I just started a Facebook group for the Home and would love to the other alumni join the group.
I'm going to go check out your facebook group, right now.
What is the name of your F/B group? I was a resident @ Bethlehem Lutheran Children's Home on Staten Island from 1966 -1971.
North Shore Staten Island History
https://www.facebook.com/groups/102961566436783/
Residents of @Bethlehem Children's Home attended PS39, the public grammar school I graduated from in South Beach. I recall some classmates I would love to connect with. I can't find the FB group for alumni that was mentioned in a prior comment. If the OP sees this, please post a link to the group. :-)
Bethlehem ! Some of us from that time and place survive. Some are lost, and some are waiting to be found
What years were you there? I was there from 67 - 71. The best years of my childhood!
As part of May's Foster Care Month, Lutheran Social Services of NY is working on an article & would love to hear from people who were residents of Bethlehem Lutheran Childrens' Home, Staten Island. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Kim
kpolson@lssny.org
What is fb page
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