When There Were Poor Houses: Early Care in Rural New York 1808-1950

To prevent them from slipping into the void of abandoned history, this book describes the institutions-some highly visible and others lesser known in and near Niagara County-that provided some of the earliest organized care for the blind, deaf, sick, disabled, insane, and destitute. Niagara County, a typical rural county of New York State, serves as a historical model for study of the various institutions-the poorhouses, almshouses, sanatoriums, asylums, orphanages, pest houses, widows houses, hospitals, and special schools in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Our predecessors, however harsh and out-moded their care seems now, labored under and along with societal and cultural attitudes that mandated a sense of responsibility toward the needy in their midst. Their early efforts provided a foundation for many of the programs in New York State that offer progressive services to its citizens today.