Descriptive Summary
Access
Access Restrictions
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Processing Information
Biography / Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Bibliography
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. records
Dates: 1933-1983
Collection number: MS 162
Collection Size:
.25 linear feet
(1 box)
Repository:
African American Museum and Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract: Established in Oakland, California on November 20, 1918 by the Northern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, the Fannie Wall
Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. was created to “care for homeless, dependent, neglected children from broken homes,
and to provide day care for children of working parents.” The Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. Records consist
of correspondence, reports, meeting and fundraising programs, and newspaper clippings that document the management of the
children’s home.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish from the Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. Records must be obtained from the African
American Museum and Library at Oakland.
Preferred Citation
Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. records, MS 162, African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland
Public Library. Oakland, California.
Acquisition Information
Collection materials were donated as part of the Hackett Family Papers. Archival material removed and finding aid created
by archivist on February 28, 2013.
Processing Information
Processed by Sean Heyliger on 03/01/2013.
Biography / Administrative History
Established in Oakland, California on November 20, 1918 by the Northern Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, the Fannie Wall
Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. was created to
care for homeless, dependent, neglected children from broken homes, and to provide day care for children of working parents. The home was located at 1215 Peralta St. in West Oakland from 1918-1928 before moving to a larger facility at 815 Linden
St. where it would remain until 1962. The home could accommodate up to 20 resident children and 8-15 children for day care
services and was operated by a professional staff of over ten employees that included social workers and a volunteer psychiatrist.
The home was managed by a Board of Directors, which largely consisted of members of the Northern Federation of Colored Women’s
Clubs, a community advisory committee, and an executive director who oversaw the home’s day-to-day operations. The home received
funding from a variety of sources including rent from an apartment in Berkeley donated by Josephine Sutton, Community Chest,
the Dreiser Trust, and through fundraising events coordinated by the home. In 1962 the Oakland Redevelopment Agency purchased
the property at 815 Linden St. in order to demolish the building for the Acorn Project. The home moved to its current location
at 647 55th St. but initially struggled to obtain a license from the Social Welfare Department, and the home was not re-opened
until 1967 as part of a placement program for the Alameda County Welfare Department. The home was forced to close again in
1970 for remodeling and reopened in 1978 as a child daycare facility and Head Start Center.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc. Records consist of correspondence, reports, meeting and fundraising
programs, and newspaper clippings that document the management of the children’s home. A majority of the records relate to
the home’s Board of Directors meetings, fundraising efforts, and reports on the financial operations of the home.
Arrangement
Series I. Administrative files
Series II. Newspaper clippings
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Fannie Wall Children’s Home and Day Nursery, Inc.
Children--Institutional care--California.
Group homes for children--California.
African Americans--California--Oakland--Social conditions--20th century.
Hausler, Don.
The Fannie Wall Children's Home.
Oakland Heritage Alliance News, Summer 1986, 1-4.
Related Material
Colored Women’s Clubs Associations Collection, MS 1, African American Museum and Library at Oakland.