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Memorial Foundation for Children

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The Memorial Foundation for Children (Former names include Female Humane Association (1807–1921) Memorial Home for Girls (1921–1946) and the Memorial Foundation (1946–1962)) is a charitable organization in Richmond, Virginia that has been operating since 1807. It was one of Virginia's first charitable institutions. While it originally had an orphanage associated with it, it divested of this in the 1970s and now is solely a grant-making institution.[1]

History

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Founding

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The MFC was founded in 1807 as "Female Humane Association" by Jean Moncure Wood, the wife of the Virginia Governor James E. Wood. According to early founding stories,[2] a young homeless girl presented herself at the door of the governor's wife, who realized the lack of shelter for homeless children in the city.[3]

Original focus on female children: education and domestic service

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Eventually the society decided to focus on housing and educating needy children.[4] Often the education provided would be accompanied by the young girls being given employment in prominent local [white] households [5]

First buildings

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  • In 1810 Major William Duval (William Pope Duval's father) offered the Association two lots to build a home and the Female Humane Association of the City of Richmond was incorporated by Act of the General Assembly of Virginia on 8 January 1811. The Association expanded and received large bequests from the Amicable Society of Richmond and the estate of Richmond Irishman Edmund Walls after Walls' death in 1841.[6][7][8] The first building, a new orphanage building, was completed and dedicated in 1843.[9][10]

Name changes

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Over the years, the organization has changed its name based on adjusting its focus as well as the realities of other services available in Richmond.

  • In 1921, the name changed from The Female Humane Association to become the "Memorial Home for Girls."[11]
  • In the 1920s and 30s The Memorial Home for Girls began specializing in the treatment of emotionally disturbed girls and boys in a residential unit and day-care treatment center. The home also worked closely with the Children's Memorial Clinic, an organization founded by Richmond residents and funded by the Community Fund of New York.[12]
  • in 1946 the Memorial Home for Girls was renamed the Memorial Foundation.[13]
  • In 1962 the Memorial Foundation changed its name to Memorial Foundation for Children to mark a clearer distinction between itself and the Memorial Clinic with which it had been partnering.[14]
  • Memorial Foundation for Children closed its orphanage in Richmond's Northside during the mid 1970s and devoted its mission to writing grants.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Memorial Foundation for Children". Foundation Websites. Retrieved 2019-09-17. One of Virginia's first charitable institutions, the organization was supported by political, social and religious leaders of Richmond.
  2. ^ Constitution and by-laws adopted April 1, 1833. Female Humane Association, Richmond, Va. Richmond: Richard and Colin. 1843. p. 3. hdl:2027/njp.32101066382613. A little girl, friendless and homeless, presented herself one morning in the year 1805
  3. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. According to several written histories, the story of the Memorial Foundation for Children of Richmond began in 1805 when a young homeless girl presented herself at the door of Mrs. Jean Moncure Wood, wife of Governor James E. Wood. Realizing the lack of shelter for homeless children in the city, Mrs. Wood decided to find a way to create a refuge for homeless girls.
  4. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. "With the help of Mrs. Philip Norborne Nicholas, Mrs. Edward J. Carrington, and Mrs John Bell, among others, the Female Humane Association was formed in 1807 for "...the relief and comfort of distressed females, and for the maintenance and instruction of destitute white female children residing in the City of Richmond." Initially the society was formed to care for adult women and children, but soon decided to focus all of its efforts on aiding needy children.
  5. ^ Green, Elna C. (1999). Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830–1930. University of Georgia Press. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-8203-2114-1. During much of the nineteenth century, the asylum operated by the Female Humane Association of Richmond took in full- and half-orphans; provided them with a rudimentary education... and then bound a number of them out for domestic service in the homes of affluent white families in Richmond and the surrounding counties
  6. ^ Goodrich, Madge (1936). "Survey Report, Shockoe Cemetery". Library of Virginia Digital Collection. Edmund Walls Died April 17, 1841
  7. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. The Amicable Society, which had been founded in 1788 to relieve strangers in distress, donated more than half its investment to the Association, the estate of Edmund Walls also gave a generous bequest to construct a new building.
  8. ^ Mahone, Kathryn Lynn (1986). The Irish community in antebellum Richmond, 1840–1860 (Masters thesis). University of Richmond. OCLC 56817973.
  9. ^ Mahone, Kathryn Lynn (1986). The Irish community in antebellum Richmond, 1840–1860 (Masters thesis). University of Richmond. p. 10. OCLC 56817973. [Walls] was described as a poor boy who made large fortune and left it to the Female Humane Association... [The Association] used the money left by Wallis to pay teachers, maintain the organization, and build the associations' [sic] first building.
  10. ^ Constitution and by-laws adopted April 1, 1833. Female Humane Association, Richmond, Va. Richmond: Richard and Colin. 1843. pp. 3–4. hdl:2027/njp.32101066382613. The present year, 1843, is an eventful one in the history of this Institution, A legacy having been left by the late Mr. Walls, for the erection of a suitable edifice for the female orphans, it was this year completed and consecrated with religious services by the clergy of the city, and on the first of June the directors removed the children to it.
  11. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. In 1921 the name, Female Humane Association, was changed to Memorial Home for Girls.
  12. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. The Memorial Home for Girls began specializing in the treatment of emotionally disturbed girls and boys in a residential unit and day-care treatment center. The home also worked closely with the Children's Memorial Clinic, an organization founded by Richmond residents and funded by the Community Fund of New York.
  13. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. in 1946 the Memorial Home for Girls was renamed the Memorial Foundation.
  14. ^ "A Guide to the Memorial Foundation for Children Records, 1811–2006". Library of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-09-17. In 1962 the Memorial Foundation changed its name to Memorial Foundation for Children to mark a clearer distinction between the Clinic and the Foundation"
  15. ^ "ChildSavers of Richmond – Memorial Child Guidance Clinic". childsavers.org. Archived from the original on 2006-04-30. Retrieved 2019-09-17. the Memorial Foundation for Children, which ran an orphanage in Richmond's Northside. When in the early 1970s the Memorial Foundation for Children closed its orphanage and became strictly a grant-making organization
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