Alexandra Orphanage and families in crisis in Vancouver, 1892 to 1938
Date
1990
Authors
Purvey, Diane
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Abstract
In British Columbia, more specifically Vancouver, during the mid- to late nineteenth century, the working class family economy was precarious, changing over the life cycle, and always subject to sudden challenges. When sickness, death, desertion, or loss of work shattered a family's stability, help was sought from neighbours, kin, or charity. As the city grew and its population increased, relations and neighbours were either not willing or not able to aid the increasing number of families in distress, and it fell into the hands of the more financially secure and socially conscious citizens to rectify the situation. While obstensibly an institution for real orphans, Alexandra Orphanage, 1892 to 1938, provided short term shelter for families to place their children during difficult times. Families were often able to survive their crises because of this assistance, even though it meant temporary separation. The parents and children who used Alexandra Orphanage are interesting because they are typical of working class families that fragmented temporarily in crisis, yet stayed together in the long term.
Case studies are available for 576 of the probable 1400 children that resided in the Orphanage sometime between 1892 and 1938. There were approximately seventy children at the Orphanage at any given time, with about thirty-five children admitted and the same number discharged every year. Almost all children admitted to the institution were between the ages of three and twelve; the average age at entry was seven, an age in the child's lifecycle when they would be fairly expensive to care for, and yet not able to contribute to the family economy. Most children spent one to two years at the Orphanage.
Just as lifecycle played a major factor in placing a child in the Orphanage, it was also an important consideration in determining when the child was to be removed from the Home. Children tended to come from families at a stage in the lifecycle when families were at their largest, but had the smallest number of wage earners. The children were often removed from the Orphanage when this difficult period of the lifecycle had passed.
Alexandra Orphanage successfully met the needs of the city's working class population. The temporary placement of a child in the Orphanage was, in the long term, best for both the child and the family. Yet, reflecting intellectual changes in the field of child care, the British Columbia Child Welfare Survey of 1927 recommended that British Columbia change its focus from institutional to family homes. It was this opinion that led to the demise of Alexandra Orphanage in 1938. It will be argued that this recommendation clearly indicates that the British Columbia Child Welfare Survey Committee was swept up with the intellectual concepts of the day, and was not able to recognize that Alexandra Orphanage provided essential, adequate ''home" care, and was a well-utilized temporary institution for children whose families were in economic stress.