Photographs depicting the interior and the grounds of the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School. Photographs show children in classes, learning trades and skills and engaged in outdoor and indoor activities.
Biographical/historical: Originally called the Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, the Howard Orphanage and Industrial School was founded (1868) and operated by African Americans, unlike other orphanages that cared for destitute black children. In 1911 the Howard Orphanage purchased a farm on Long Island, closed the Brooklyn facility, and moved 250 boys and girls there. The children were taught practical skills, and were "placed out" with individual families when they reached the age of sixteen. The Orphanage was forced to close in January 1918 due to the severe winter that caused the water pipes to freeze, resulting in two children having to have their feet amputated. Following the foreclosure on the mortgage, the trustees of the orphanage used the financial contributions, which individuals continued to send, for the education of needy black students in Brooklyn high schools. The organization was renamed the Howard Memorial Fund in 1956.
