Times Profiles Children’s Aid Building “With Stories to Tell”

June 9, 2008

An intriguing bit of Children’s Aid’s history was revealed by The New York Times on Sunday, June 8, 2008, in its “Streetscapes” section. The history of 307 East 12th Street in Manhattan, built by The Children’s Aid Society in 1892 as the Elizabeth Home for Girls, reveals an interesting slice of the agency’s mission and work in the late 19th century.

Drawing on the Times’ own archives, reporter Christopher Gray profiles the building, designed by Calvert Vaux, and its young inhabitants. The building was a home and basically a vocational school for girls who ranged in age from adolescence to young adulthood. Touching descriptions of some of the young women who lived in the building say a great deal about the children and youth who were the focus of the agency’s work at that time.

Please read the full story, “A House of Refuge, With Stories to Tell,” at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/realestate/08scap.html?pagewanted=print