Overview

The Bethel Home for Women and Convalescent Children was founded around 1911. However, it appears to have been organized prior to 21 April 1910, as the building was enumerated in the 1910 Census.

In May 1913, The Day Book (a publication in Chicago) ran a story about the Bethel Home for Convalescent Women and Children and Mrs. Evangeline Barron, the matron and superintendent of the home. In the article, it describes how the United Charities organization refused to endorse the Bethel Home, forcing Barron to shut it down.[1]

There are few clues to the history of Bethel Home besides those in newspaper articles.

However, it is unclear as to how long Bethel Home was closed. One strange article about Mrs. Barron was published in the Chicago Tribune in 16 September 1913, “Mrs E. Barron in Wisconsin: Reports that she mysteriously disappeared prove to have been unfounded—Now at Lake Geneva,” which states, “Mrs. Evangeline Barron, former matron of Bethel home, 522 East Thirty-Fourth Place, who was reported as having disappeared in a letter sent to The Tribune, was located yesterday at Lake Geneva.”[2] This indicates that the home was either closed or Barron was no longer matron of the home sometime before 16 September 1913. Yet, just days later on 28 September 1913, the Chicago Tribune published a brief about the Calendar Club of the Bethel Home and states, “The Calendar club was organized last week at a meeting of philanthropic women at the Blackstone hotel, the society to work for the good of the Bethel Home for Convalescents, of which Mrs. Evangline Barron is head resident.”[3] It seems that the home could have been temporarily closed between May and September 1913.

Activities of Barron and Bethel Home resumed in late September 1913, as evident in newspaper articles, including the news story “School of Eugenics Planned for Bethel Home,” which describes that Mrs. Evangeline Barron was planning “to start a school of eugenics in connection with the Bethel Home for Convalescent Women and Children. Mrs. Barron is head resident of the home.”[4] Additionally, the Calendar Club, which was a society of women that raised money for the Bethel Home, was in the process of securing funding to purchase the home’s property in October 1913.[5]

In 1914, it was a certified orphanage.[6] However, there are no mentions of Bethel Home in Chicago’s Social Service Directory of 1915, or any other sources consulted after 1915.

Institution Name and Type

Alternative Names: Bethel Convalescent Home

Type of Institution: Orphanage, Sanitarium

Location and Building

Address: 522 East 33^rd Place[7]

Locality: Chicago

County: Cook County

State: Illinois

Administration Information

Date of Founding: 1911[8]

Notable People

1911 Board[9]

Harry Hildreth, President

Frank W. Jones, Vice-President

H. M. Ashton, Secretary

Chas. E. Starr, Treasurer

Mrs. W. V. Barron, Superintendent and matron

Intake Information and Requirements

Intake Gender/Sex: Female, Male

Intake Age: Adults, Children

Intake Ethnicity/Race:

• 1911: “Commitments: During the year of 1911 one colored boy was committed to their care.”[10]

Intake Specifics:

• 1911: “Only convalescents are admitted to this institution, and no males over eight years of age. Will admit from any institution, or upon recommendation of any reputable physician, unless suffering from contagious disease. An exception was made recently in the case of a man and his wife, once wealthy, discharged from the Cook County Hospital friendless and without money. The man is now a cashier in a restaurant on a small salary, and is in the home only at night. His wife is a very capable helper about the home.”[11] 1 child was committed by the court, 18 others were received otherwise or present at the beginning of the year. 16 children were discharged with their mothers. 2 men were admitted, and 78 females were admitted.

Number of Residents:

• 1911: 1 child was committed by the court, 18 others were received otherwise or present at the beginning of the year. 16 children were discharged with their mothers. 1 was present at the end of the year, and 2 were placed in other institutions. 70 adults were residents throughout the year. 2 men were admitted and remained until the end of the year. 78 women were admitted (10 of whom were present at the beginning of the year), 75 of which were discharged throughout the year.

Records

1911: “a fairly good record of each inmate is entered. Records are not kept in fireproof receptacle.”[12]

Unknown if records exist. No collections found through online internet searches.

1910 U. S. Census

Chicago Ward 3, Enumeration District 0221

522 East 33^rd Place

Name	Relation to Head of Household	Sex	Race	Age	Marital Status	Occupation
Barron, Walter A.	Head	M	White	33	M	Can Salesman / Advertising Company
Barron, Evangelina M.	Wife	F	White	30	M	Superintendent / Charity House
Barron, Benois F.	Son	M	White	6	S
Slocharick, Annie	Lodger	F	White	19	S	Houseworker / Charity house
Slocharick, Ethel	Lodger	F	White	0	S
Mills, Julia P.	Lodger	F	White	16	S
Nielsen, Julius P.	Lodger	M	White	23	S	Houseworker / Charity House
Heslen, Theresa M.	Lodger	F	White	25	S	Expediter Dipper / Candy Factory
Heslen, Josephine M.	Lodger	F	White	0	S

Sources

Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes. 1912. Sixth Annual Report of the Department Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, Board of Administration of the State of Illinois, For the Year Ending December 31, 1911. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Co. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Report_for_of_the_Department_Visitation/e1I9AQAAMAAJ.

“Mrs. E. Barron in Wisconsin,” Chicago Tribune, 16 September 1913, p. 4, col. 1.

“School of Eugenics Planned for Bethel Home,” Chicago Tribune, 6 October 1913, p. 14, col. 5.

“Tells Curran Commission How United Charities Prosecutes Those It Does Not Like,” The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois), 16 May 1913, p. 27, col. 1-2.

“The Calendar club was…” Chicago Tribune, 28 September 1913, section 5, p. 8, col. 2.

The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1914. Volume V. Springfield, Illinois: State Board of Administration, State Charities Commission, and State Psychopathic Institute. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Institution_Quarterly/MNnKAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.

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[1] “Tells Curran Commission How United Charities Prosecutes Those It Does Not Like,” The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois), 16 May 1913, p. 27, col. 1-2.

[2] “Mrs. E. Barron in Wisconsin,” Chicago Tribune, 16 September 1913, p. 4, col. 1.

[3] “The Calendar club was…” Chicago Tribune, 28 September 1913, section 5, p. 8, col. 2.

[4] “School of Eugenics Planned for Bethel Home,” Chicago Tribune,6 October 1913, p. 14, col. 5.

[5] “School of Eugenics Planned for Bethel Home,” Chicago Tribune,6 October 1913, p. 14, col. 5.

[6] The Institution Quarterly: An Official Organ of the Public Charity Service of Illinois. 1914. Volume V. Springfield, Illinois: State Board of Administration, State Charities Commission, and State Psychopathic Institute. 105.

[7] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes. 1912. Sixth Annual Report of the Department Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, Board of Administration of the State of Illinois, For the Year Ending December 31, 1911. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Co. 39-40.

[8] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, 1912. 170-171.

[9] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, 1912. 170-171.

[10] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, 1912. 41.

[11] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, 1912. 40.

[12] Illinois Department of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes, 1912. 41.