HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Tales of anguish, touch the Florence Crittenton home
Rob Robbins
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Tales of anguish, touch the Florence Crittenton home
Mike McCormick Special to the Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE —
In February 1911 — 100 years ago — the Florence Crittenton Home of Terre Haute
at 1923 Poplar St. was preparing to celebrate its fourth year of
existence.
The home opened in March 1907. In four years, 109 girls
resided there. During 1910, the home sheltered 35 young girls.
A.
Jeannette Smith, superintendent of the home in Terre Haute, revealed that a
movement was initiated in Indiana by educators and philanthropists to make moral
education a part of the school curriculum.
The format for the idea was
based upon ideas published by the Spokane Society of Social and Moral Hygiene.
The intended beneficiaries are children between the ages of 6 and
15.
According to Smith, the movement is supported by 300 “of the best
people in Terre Haute” and many more in other cities of the state.
Few
people were more important to the effort than Albert R. Charman, professor of
method at Indiana State Normal.
For nearly 15 years, Charman was a member
of the County Board of Charities of Vigo County, serving successively as
secretary and president. He also served as a member of the board of trustees of
the Florence Crittenton Home of Terre Haute.
In 1907, Charman was elected
chairman of a committee to investigate the prevention of immorality among the
young. Miss Smith, Thomas Fitzgibbons of Columbus and Charlotte Dye,
superintendent of the Indiana Girls School in Indianapolis were also on the
committee.
By 1911, the Florence Crittenton Home of Terre Haute was
considered the top facility of its kind in the state. The local board consisted
of Stella C. Stimson, president; Julius F. Ermisch, vice president; Professor
Charman, recording secretary; Charles McKeen, corresponding secretary; and Dow
R. Gwinn, treasurer.
The age of the residents, often referred to as
“inmates,” ranged from 12 to 20. The majority were under 16 years old.
No
one was admitted to the home unless she promised to stay at least 6 months and
abide by all rules and regulations. The great majority of the applications come
from girls who are victims of ignorance or betrayal. Girls who have worked in
houses of prostitution usually are not accepted unless the board is convinced
that the applicant is repentant and sincerely desires to straighten out her
life.
Most inmates come as referrals from the police, probation workers
or charity organizations. Some are sent to the home by friends who become aware
of their plight. Cards are placed in prominent places in the community as
“signposts” to girls who are desperate or on the brink of turning to a life of
shame.
The Terre Haute home and homes in Evansville, Vincennes,
Princeton, Washington and Paris, Ill., among others, are considering the
establishment of “substations” in rural areas nearby.
Once situated at
the Terre Haute home, the girls were required to learn basic domestic skills.
Merit rewards were given for promptness, neatness, faithfulness, cheerfulness,
truthfulness, language, politeness, table manners, temper, obedience, criticism
of management and initiative.
The education of the residents is not
neglected, either.
After a girl resided in the home for a year, she is
placed in a private home. The demand for Mrs. Smith’s girls was great. Often,
the girl and her child were eventually adopted members of the family.
If
asked, “Mother Smith,” as she was called by many, could recite many tales of
heartache and anguish. One involved a teenage girl from Scotland, whose story
became well known in the community though no one knew who she was or what she
looked like. She was known as “Scotch Annie.”
Scotch Annie and her older
brother emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and soon moved to Vigo County, where he
married a Terre Haute girl. Annie lived with her brother and
sister-in-law.
Though the reasons are not clear, Scotch Annie and her
sister-in-law did not get along.
Annie tired to secure employment but,
unable to find a place to live, she spent a few weeks in a house of ill fame.
Unhappy with her decision to take that path, she begged her brother for shelter
but he refused to have anything further to do with her.
When Mother Smith
finally learned about the girl, Scotch Annie was pregnant. The young lady was
taken to Florence Crittenton Home, where a little girl was born.
When the
infant was 2 years old, board members of the home contacted Scotch Annie’s
brother, whose resolve was weakened when he met his niece for the first
time.
One day a large package came to the home for Annie. It contained a
substantial amount of clothing for mother and child. It also contained enough
money to pay for a trip to Scotland.
The package was sent by Scotch
Annie’s brother.
Several weeks later, he accompanied his sister and her
child to Union Station. Several members of the Florence Crittenton Home board
were there, too.
Those who witnessed the separation of Annie and her
brother in a Terre Haute depot will never forget it. It is among the most
touching moments in the celebrated history of the home.
Charles N.
Crittenton founded Florence Crittenton Homes at the request of and in memory of
his daughter. Crittenton participated in the founding of 73 homes in the U.S.
and several in China and Japan.
The owner of a drug store supply company,
Crittenton became a millionaire but spent most of his life helping the
unfortunate. Whenever a home was founded, Crittenton contributed $1,000. Other
money was raised by subscription or donation.
Crittenton died in San
Francisco at age 73 on Nov. 16, 1909.
The Florence Crittenton Home of
Terre Haute closed in about 1976.
~Catherine Pulsifer~
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