FINDING AID
Collection on Andover Children’s Home (Andover, Ill.), 1942-2005
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Collection Title:
Collection on Andover Children’s Home (Andover, Ill.)
Collection Number:
I/O:68
Dates:
1942-2005 and undated
Size:
1 box (.25 linear feet)
Language:
English
Creator/Collector:
Doris Brodd
Subject Headings:
Andover Children’s Home
Andover (Ill.)
Children--Institutional care.
Orphanages--Illinois--Andover--History.
Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod of North America--Charities.
Orphans’ Home and Farm School (Andover, Ill.)--History
Repository:
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Abstract:
The Andover Children’s Home was located in Andover, Illinois from 1868 until 1970. The mission of the Home was to care for orphans and endangered youths. The materials in this collection came from Doris Brodd, a former housemother. Collection consists of anniversary and ceremony pamphlets, general historical information, “The Andover Home News,” newsletter, and newspaper articles.
RIGHTS AND ACCESS
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open for research.
Reproduction and Use:
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Swenson Center and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation:
[item identification], in I/O:68 Collection on Andover Children’s Home (Andover, Ill.), Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS
Provenance:
Received by Tim Brodd from Doris Brodd circa 2007.
Source of Acquisition:
Donated by Tim Brodd circa 2016.
Related Materials:
“The Orphans' home and farm school at Andover, Illinois: a brief record of fifty years in the Master's service” by M.J. Lauré, 1917
Processed By:
Processing finished and finding aid written in 2018 by Kate Normoyle.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Administrative/Biographical History:
The Andover Children’s Home was established in the 1860s by the Augustana Synod and Rev. Jonas Swensson in the spirit of Lutheran social work. The process for establishing an orphanage began in 1863 with fundraising efforts and the appointment of a board of directors. In 1864, the Synod approved the purchase of about 160 acres of land in Paxton, Illinois. However, an orphanage was not built there.
The directors voted to sell the Paxton land in favor of moving to Swedona (then known as Berlin) or Andover, Illinois to be closer to the growing Swedish-American community. In 1867, a home was built in Swedona and it accepted the first child. Rev. Swensson purchased new farmland for the Home at Andover in 1870. A farm was desired to provide work and income for the children. The Home remained in Andover until its closure in 1970. In 1876, the responsibility for the Home was transferred from the Synod to the Illinois Conference. Between the years 1872 and 1910, the Home was remodeled and a school for the children was built. After the Home’s closure in 1970 there was a short period were the land was used as part of an addict recovery program, but the costs of running the program quickly became too high and the land was later sold by the church.
The only serious event that threatened the Home was a fire in December of 1908. There was a great effort from the community to save the building, but it and almost all of the Home’s records were destroyed. There was no loss of life. With community support, the Home was rebuilt and running again soon after.
In 1960, the focus of the Home was changed from an orphanage and institution for dependent children, to a broader child welfare program adding foster care services as well as services for children in their own homes. Eventually, due to the dwindling use of such institutions, a similar institution located nearby, and the cost of maintaining the older building, the Lutheran Social Services of Illinois voted to close the Andover Children’s Home in 1970.
Scope and Content:
This collection consists of anniversary and ceremony pamphlets, general historical information, “The Andover Home News,” newsletter, and newspaper articles.
System of Arrangement:
Materials arranged chronologically by series.
Series I. Anniversaries, 1942, 1967 and 2003
Series II. General information, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1964, 1990 and 1992
Series III. “The Andover Home News,” newsletter 1953, 1958, 1961 and undated
Series IV. Newspaper clippings, 1960-1961, 1967, 1970, 2005 and undated
Collection Inventory:
Box 1
Folder 1
Series I. Anniversaries
• “Andover Children’s Home Announcing Seventy-fifth Anniversary” (booklet), 1942
• “Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 1867-1942: Lutheran Home for Children and Farm School” (booklet), 1942
• “The Conference Messenger: Andover Home Issue,” 1942
• “Centennial at Andover: Home for orphaned Lutheran children began in farm cottage” pages 36-37 in “The Lutheran,” 1967
• “100 Years!” and “The Next 100 Years” articles in “Lutheran Welfare News,” 1967
• “Faith, Good Will and Service: LSSI Celebrates 135 years” pages 2-5 and “Elsa Remembers Andover” pages 6-8 in “Eye on LSSI,” 2003
Folder 2
Series II. General information
• “The Andover Children’s Home,” circa 1947
• “Annual 1948” published by the Board of Charities of the Illinois Conference (booklet), photographs and information on Andover Children’s Home, 1948
• “Annual 1950” published by the Board of Charities of the Illinois Conference (booklet), photographs and information on Andover Children’s Home, 1950
• “Cornerstone Laying Service, Lutheran Home for Children” (flyer), 1950
• “The Children’s Home Speaks,” (poem) by Doris Swedberg, September 27, 1964
• Cite marker press release and photograph, 1990
• “The Children’s Home at Andover” pages 5-8 in “Lutheran Social Services of Illinois: A History of Service”(Bound volume), 1992
Folder 3
Series III. “The Andover Home News”
• “The Andover Home News” newsletter, 1953, 1958, 1961, and undated
Folder 4
Series IV. Newspaper clippings
• “Gifts for the Andover Home,” Moline Dispatch, April 29, 1960
• “Lutheran Children’s Home Has New Role,” Moline Dispatch, April 26, 1961
• “Centennial Observance at Andover Home Sept. 24” article in “The Illinois Lutheran” (newspaper), September 1967
• “Aura of Gloom Shrouds Children’s Home,” The Times Democrat, February 9, 1970
• “Moline Resident Head Andover Home Alumni,” Moline Dispatch, June 29, 1970
• “Raising Andover,” The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus, January 2, 2005
• Assorted pictures (photocopies from unknown publications), undated