Love, Louis (Chicago 1904-1906) Orphanage

State Street, Chicago, 1905. Horses are still the biggest mode of transportation at the time.
Louis became a half-orphan, and his father dropped him off at the Chicago Nursery and Half Orphan Asylum, along with his two brothers. This was one of the many orphanages in Chicago at the time. This orphanage has been turned into a mansion in the Lakeview area of Chicago....175 Burling Street.
(To make research even more difficult, Chicago changed its numbering systems for homes and businesses after this period.)

Below: A postcard titled The children of the ghetto and the ice-cream man, Chicago, Ill.
Sometimes these Italian ice cream vendors were call the Hokey Pokey Man! They would take left over ice cream and serve it to the children from a cart.

 

Dearborn Street, Chicago. Circa 1905. The National Archives has a large collection of photos that can be accessed by searching various categories online.

Above: is a ledger that was found by my Chicago genealogist. It contains the records of Louis Rust and his brother Henry from 1904-1905.
Orphan records are still hard to find because of privacy laws.

Below: Wealthy men and women in the city would often do charity work and make large donations to the children of the orphanages. They often were on the boards of the orphanages.

Below: A wealthy young woman, Gwendolyn Jones, brought over one-hundred children from the asylum on a special train to her estate in Lake Forest for fresh air and ice cream.
They liked the fountains and flowers the best!

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