Collection Guide
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Boys and Girls Aid Society Records
BANC MSS C-A 170
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Boys and Girls Aid Society records
Creator:
Boys and Girls Aid Society (San Francisco, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-A 170
Physical Description:
60 linear feet
(34 cartons, 35 oversize boxes, 22 volumes, 2 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1874-1930
Abstract: Records of the Boys and Girls Aid Society of San Francisco, including case books and case files, other inmate data, Research
Department files, administrative files, and financial records dating mostly from 1882 until 1929.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language of Material:
English
.
The collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Boys and Girls Aid Society records came to the Bancroft Library in 1950. The provenance of the collection is unknown.
Existence and Location of Copies
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Arranged into five series: 1. Case books and case files; 2. Other inmate data; 3. Research Department files; 4. Adminstrative
files; 5. Financial records.
The Boys and Girls Aid Society was organized in 1874. From 1886 until its dissolution around 1930, it was located in San Francisco
at 460 Baker Street (at the corner of Grove). This non-profit organization was founded, at least in part, in response to disillusionment
with an approach to juvenile justice and delinquency prevention that led to the imprisonment of youths in California's prisons
and jails. By the 1860s, public pressure emerged to separate juveniles from adult offenders. This led initially to the establishment
of the San Francisco Industrial School in 1858 and the State Reform School (located in Marysville) in 1861. These institutions
struggled, however, to provide the necessary institutional care for all who required it. In response to the need for more
institutions to take on this work, organizations like the Boys and Girls Aid Society were established.
The Boys and Girls Aid Society saw itself as an alternative to Industrial School commitment or imprisonment. The Society received,
by legal commitment, juvenile offenders from throughout counties in central and northern California who were endangered of
being imprisoned. The organization presented its mission as finding suitable homes or employmeet for at-risk boys and girls
(many homeless, neglected, or abused) and continuing to provide oversight and systematic attention over time. The Boys and
Girls Aid Society would provide institutional care to boys and girls until 1903 and then to only boys from 1903 through the
dissolution of the organization around 1930. Most of the organization's income came from counties in California that paid
for commitments. Other income came from legacies (bequests) and subscriptions, including a monthly allowance from the Crocker
Trust.
Processed by Lara Michels with the help of Student Processing Assistants Richard Lim, Malayna Chang and David Eick.
The collection consists of five series: case books and case files, other inmate data, Research Department files, administrative
files, and financial records.
Series 1, the largest and most comprehensive set of records, consists of case books and case files on individual male and
female inmates of the Boys and Girls Aid Society. These case materials date, without interruption, from 1882 until 1929 for
the boys and from 1884 until 1904 for the girls. There are no case files or case books from before 1882. Case books are bound
volumes that include name, date of admission, some family data, notes, and, sometimes, a small photograph of the inmate. Case
files include inmate data cards with admission information, including date of admission, place of origin, family data, notes
and, usually, a photograph. The case files might also include loose correspondence regarding the inmate.
Series 2 consists of materials that provide other sources of information about the Boys and Girls Society inmates. Among these
are monthly and daily record books documenting inmates present in the organization, admissions and dismissals. Volumes entitled
"Monthly record of admissions and dismissals" date, without interruption, from 1884 until 1929. Other materials in this series
document employment of wards, wards present in the home at any one time, inmate accounts, and a number of volumes and files
on the dietary provisions for inmates.
Series 3 includes files from the Research Department of the Boys and Girls Aid Society. This department operated in the 1920s
and undertook psychological and IQ testing on inmates. These materials consist mainly of files relating to specific inmates.
Series 4 consists of administrative files. Among these files are the outgoing correspondence (in letterpress volumes) of the
Boys and Girls Aid Society superintendent from 1885 until 1910. Other correspondence (from the 1920s) can be found in the
mixed administrative files in carton 25. Correspondence in this carton is mixed with financial records and a decision was
made by the processing archivist to keep the files intact. Board meeting minutes and some annual reports dating from 1887
until 1920 can be found in Volumes 21 and 22. An administrative subject file contains information on a range of topics, including
interactions of the Boys and Girls Aid Society with other social service agencies and organizations in San Francisco. Finally,
this series includes a few scrapbooks of newspaper clippings kept by the organization from 1882 until 1897 and from 1905 until
1919.
Series 5 consists of financial records of the organization. These materials date from the 1880s through the 1920s. The materials
in this series are somewhat scattered and many of them are focused on the 1920s.
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Boys and Girls Aid Society (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Archives
Orphanages -- California -- San Francisco
Social service -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
Public welfare -- California -- San Francisco
Juvenile delinquency -- California -- San Francisco
Children -- Institutional care
Case files