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Finding Aid for the Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home records
0415
0415
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Title: Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home records
Collection number: 0415
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.2 Linear feet
12 boxes
Date: 1892-1999
Abstract: The Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home records consists of correspondence, meeting notes and minutes, photographs, publications
and newspaper clippings related to the history and development of the Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home. Apart from the
photographs and clippings, the greatest concentrations of material are from 1906-1915, 1947-1955, and the 1990s. The photographic
collections span the period between the 1920s and the 1950s, and include many photographs of staff and board members.
creator:
Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Copyright has not been assigned to the California Social Welfare Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the appropriate agency or person.
[Box/folder #], Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home records, Collection no. 0415, California Social Welfare Archives, Special
Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Steven Schultz, Acting Director, Crittenton Center for Young Women & Infants, 234 E. Avenue 33, Los Angeles, California.
The Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home was established in Los Angeles in 1892, as a cooperative effort between Reverend
J. W. Ellsworth and Charles Crittenton, an evangelist who was responsible for the establishment of many similar homes throughout
the United States. In 1882, Mr. Crittenton's youngest daughter, Florence, died suddenly of scarlet fever. The shock of her
death led Crittenton to give up his highly successful pharmaceutical business and begin an evangelical ministry. Crittenton's
ministry soon concentrated on the reclamation of prostitutes and other women who had fallen on hard times. Crittenton would
travel the country for the next two decades, preaching to large crowds and donating much of the proceeds of this ministry
to the establishment of local homes for the care of "fallen women" and their children. Almost immediately, the home--named
for his daughter Florence--became refuges for unwed mothers. In 1898, the Florence Crittenton Mission was given a national
charter, which allowed for coordinated control of these various homes across the country.
Crittenton's successor as coordinator of the Mission's efforts was Dr. Kate Waller Barrett, under whose tenure, the Florence
Crittenton Homes established the goals and ideology that would characterize the Crittenton Mission throughout the twentieth
century.
Dr. Barrett stressed the value of motherhood as a means for creating social services that were suitable for women. While family
planning was embraced, for instance, Barrett was insistent that every effort should be made to persuade unwed mothers to keep
their children. The goal of the Florence Crittenton Homes, then, was to make productive citizens and suitable mothers out
of young women who had been led to motherhood by irregular life-styles.
The Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home was established in 1892. At the time, Charles Crittenton was on the West Coast, preaching,
and establishing homes in San Francisco and San Jose. Wishing to establish a home in Los Angeles, Reverend J. W. Ellsworth
apparently requested Crittenton's aid in raising funds for a home to be built on lands donated by Reverend W. C. Stevens.
The Home experienced financial difficulties that culminated in a prolonged intervention by Dr. Barrett, who restructured the
organization, creating both a board of directors who handled business affairs and a separate organization to manage the day-to-day
operations of the home. The financial turn-around was dramatic enough that the Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home was able
to move into a new, $75,000 facility, in 1915. Over the years, the organization of the Florence Crittenton Home has been refined.
In 1936, funding and volunteer coordination was greatly enhanced by the creation of "circles," smaller groups--sometimes project-oriented,
sometimes associated with other charitable organizations--that provided a sense of structure and direction to volunteer activity.
In 1950 the Florence Crittenton Home Association was formed.
The Home was fortunate to have a series of exceptionally talented administrators. The president of the Home between 1914 and
1929 was Mrs. Henry Hurd, who established the new organization in line with the principles of Dr. Barrett. Mrs. Hurd was succeeded
by Mrs. Dora Shaw Heffner, who shepherded the Home through the difficult Depression and World War II years. Mrs. Heffner was
greatly aided by Miss Ruth Swalestuen, who was superintendent of the activities of the home for nearly three decades. Shortly
after Miss Swalestuen's retirement, Ms. Katheryn Nielsen became superintendent. Ms. Nielsen oversaw the transition of the
mission of the Crittenton Center during the difficult 1960s and 1970s.
During the last third of the twentieth century, the mission of the Crittenton Home began to change somewhat, in response to
social changes. As extramarital sexual behavior became less taboo and illegitimacy lost much of its social approbation, the
Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home began to focus more on girls and young women who were undergoing social or familial stress
for a wide variety of reasons. This change of emphasis is reflected in the later name changes for the Home. In 1969, it became
"Florence Crittenton Services," and in 1982 it was renamed "Crittenton Center for Young Women & Infants." Despite these changes,
the Center has remained true to the original vision of Charles Crittenton, to restore dignity and a place in society to young
women who have no other means of support.
| 1877 | Florence Crittenton born. |
| 1882 | Florence Crittenton dies of scarlet fever. |
| 1883 | Charles Crittenton establishes the Florence Night Mission in New York City. |
| 1892 August 25 | Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home dedicated on Santee Street property donated by Reverend W. C. Stevens. |
| 1898 | National Charter for Florence Crittenton Mission. |
| 1908-1910 | Financial Crisis. Dr. Barrett intervenes. |
| 1915 April 11 | New Florence Crittenton Home dedicated. |
| 1914-1929 | Mrs. Mary M. Hurd, president. |
| 1929-1946 | Mrs. Dora Shaw Refiner, president. |
| 1932-1959 | Miss Ruth Swalestuen, R.N., superintendent. |
| 1935 | Santee Street property sold. |
| 1936 | Support Circles formed. |
| 1946-1953 | Mrs. Charles Thomas, president. |
| 1950 | Florence Crittenton Homes Association formed. |
| 1953 | Charles Fleischman becomes president of the Florence Crittenton Home. |
| 1960-1976 | Katheryn Nielsen, superintendent. |
| 1969 | L. A. Florence Crittenton Home becomes Florence Crittenton Services. |
| 1982 | Florence Crittenton Services becomes Crittenton Center. |
| 1990 | Center opens in-house school for residents. |
| 1992 | One hundredth anniversary celebration. |
Advance notice required for access.
The Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home records consists of correspondence, meeting notes and minutes, photographs, publications
and newspaper clippings related to the history and development of the Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home. Apart from the
photographs and clippings, the greatest concentrations of material are from 1906-1915, 1947-1955, and the 1990s. The photographic
collections span the period between the 1920s and the 1950s, and include many photographs of staff and board members.
The clippings have been maintained sporadically from the 1920s through the present in a series of scrapbooks; after 1966,
the source of these clippings is Allen's P.C.B., a clippings service. For the most part, the press releases that generated
these clippings are not preserved. Many of the older publications and other items of archival interest were originally pasted
into the clippings scrapbooks; these have been removed from the scrapbooks in order to facilitate conservation.
The records are organized into 4 series:
Series 1. Operations Series 2. Publications Series 3. Personnel Series 4. Clippings
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Crittenton Center for Young Women & Infants. -- Archives
Los Angeles Florence Crittenton Home (Los Angeles, Calif.). -- Archives
Clippings
Correspondence
Financial records
Los Angeles (Calif.)--History--Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.)--Social conditions--Archival resources
Maternity homes--California--Los Angeles--History--Archival resources
Photographs
Printed ephemera
Publications
Reports
Social service--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Social work with teenagers--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Young women--California--Los Angeles--Charities, protection, etc.--Archival resources