I would like to find the location of the individual case file records for the Brooklyn Society for

GaryNolan

I would like to find the location of the individual case file records for the Brooklyn Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (SPCC) which operated from 1874 until the early 2000s.

I am seeking the case file records of my paternal grandmother for the times she was in the custody of the Brooklyn SPCC. From other records I know she was first picked up by the SPCC in 1894 and sent to St Malachy's Home for Children in East New York. I believe she was released from St Malachy's in 1899. In July of 1903 her mother had her arrested for vagrancy by the SPCC, she was then sent to the NY Catholic Portectory which was located in the Bronx. She was released from the Protectory in May 1907 to live with her older sister in Brooklyn, but was taken into the custody of the SPCC once again in late 1907 or early 1908 when she was 13 yrs old and pregnant with my uncle. After the birth of my uncle in April 1908 my grandmother and my uncle were transferred from the SPCC to the custody of the NY Foundling Hospital in Manhattan. Her case file number for her last encounter with the SPCC is #62902.

Robert Raymond

Finding manuscript collections is a challenge. Realizing you may have already searched the following, I offer them just in case.

 

• One avenue for finding manuscripts is searching the national Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). See https://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/oclcsearch.html 
• Another place to search is ArchiveGrid. https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/
• While I believe searching the previous two covers most or all of WorldCat, it doesn't hurt to search it directly. See http://worldcat.org/
• Libraries sometimes end up with local records, or can suggest where they might be found. Two examples are https://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/2010/03/25/brooklyn-society and See http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/arc_126_society_prevention_cruelty_children/
• Societies sometimes end up with manuscript records, or can suggest where they might be found. Two examples: https://www.brooklynhistory.org/research-collections/search-the-collections/ and https://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org/
• When an organization ceases to exist, its records often perish. But they may pass to a similar organization. Talk to the New York SPCC. Perhaps they can direct your efforts. https://nyspcc.org/research-and-evaluation/archival-research/
• The Society of American Archivists offers some suggestions on finding manuscripts. See https://www2.archivists.org/book/export/html/14611
• Harvard has a LibGuide on the subject. See https://guides.library.harvard.edu/archives/us

 

Good luck!

GaryNolan

Robert,

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into the sources you provided.