USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 94
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The first commissioners comprised: John A. Coulter, of Clear Creek, presi- dent ; Col. P. Stanley, of San Juan; John W. Browning, of Arapahoe; John D. Lewis, of Monte Vista; George W. Cook, of Denver; Orlando Bonner, of Rio Grande. The General Assembly in 1893 made the commander of the Colorado and Wyoming G. A. R., when a citizen of Colorado, an ex-officio member of the board.
The General Assembly in 1895 retained the latter provision but reduced the board to three members, and authorized this body "to appoint a commander, adjutant, commissary quartermaster, physician and bookkeeper" for the home. It limited the admission to those whose pensions were $12 a month or less, except for hospital treatment. In 1899 the Spanish war veterans were made eligible for admission to the home, and in 1911 the home was also thrown open to Con- federate veterans.
The record of the first decade follows :
Admitted
Discharged
Deaths
1891-2
97
48
5
1893-4
45
:56
5
1895-6
69
64
9
1897-8
56
38
9
1899-1900
79
52
27
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
By the end of 1906 the daily average attendance had grown to 157. During 1905, seventy-six were admitted and fifty-nine was the record of discharges and deaths. The number in the home at the end of 1906 was 249. In that year the new stone dining hall was built, the stone morgue was erected, and a beautiful conservatory was added to the home.
Until 1906 all but $5 of the monthly pension money of residents was col- lected from them. The act of Congress prohibiting this practice on the part of the State Homes, has been carefully adhered to since that year.
In 1907 the daily average attendance was 157; in 1908 it was 168. The mem- bership on November 30, 1910, was 209; absent on furlough, 37; total, 246. The daily average attendance in 1912 was 191; in 1913 it was 167; in 1915 it was 179; in 1916, 178.
The Eighteenth General Assembly, in 1911, appropriated $15,000 for the erection of cottages to accommodate soldiers' wives when admitted. Eight four-room cottages were therefore at once erected, and these were nicely fur- nished by the G. A. R. and W. R. C. of the state. In 1914 six additional cot- tages were erected and furnished. All of these are now occupied by veterans and their wives. In 1917 the General Assembly amended the act providing for a board of four commissioners, three of whom must be honorably discharged soldiers, sailors or mariners, and one a woman.
In addition to the above the home receives from the Federal Government $100 yearly for each man. The veterans not alone have their pensions, but the state allows each of them $25 for clothing.
The commanders in charge of the home have been: John H. Shaw, C. S. Al- drich, A. J. Woodside, Thomas F. Foote, Austin Hogle. The board in 1918 · consisted of James Moynihan, Denver ; W. H. McDonald, Grand Junction; John Conkie, Trinidad.
COLORADO STATE REFORMATORY
The Colorado State Reformatory was created on April 19, 1889, the site to be in Chaffee County, and the purpose clearly stated to be "the care, education and training of offenders of the law who may be found just starting upon a criminal career." All persons convicted who are between the ages of sixteen and thirty years may be committed under an indeterminate sentence. The term of incarceration as well as the term of parole is left to the Board of Control, al- though final discharge is due when he shall have reached the age limit.
A special committee selected a tract of 480 acres of land lying one mile south of Buena Vista, and the Board of Penitentiary Commissioners, authorized by law to manage the reformatory, proceeded to establish the institution.
Prisoners of the "trusty" class were taken from the penitentiary at Cañon City to the reformatory to clear the land, build fences, stockades and temporary buildings. The wing of one of the stone cell houses was completed in 1896, and 104 cells were then available. In 1900 approximately seventy thousand dollars had been expended on buildings, all of which are of modern construction.
In 1891-2 temporary quarters were found for 107 youthful prisoners trans- ferred from the state penitentiary. In 1893-4 ninety-two were committed, and ninety were transferred from Cañon City. In 1899-1900 the number committed
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
was 234. In that period 206 had been paroled. During its first decade the board of control paroled 757 of these youthful prisoners.
In this first period A. A. Dutcher was warden, and in his report for 1903-4 says that 65 per cent of the 145 inmates were learning a trade. He abolished the prison garb, substituting a neat cadet suit of gray. In 1908 the large two-story granite building, 217 feet by 50, with its one-story addition was completed, and was put into use for dining room, kitchen, bakery, chapel and schoolroom. To this was added in 1910 and 1912 additional cell rooms, a sanitary dairy barn, a cement chicken house and a hog yard of concrete.
With the parole law effective the number in the institution does not grow much beyond capacity. On November 30, 1912, there were 161 inmates. While 518 were received during that year, 598 were discharged. In the next biennial period 391 were committed and 351 were paroled. On November 30, 1914, the inmates numbered 143.
During the last biennial period 223 boys were employed on near-by farms and ranches, and earned $3,534.18, which goes to their families. These working permits are given prior to parole. For the last three biennial periods the pris- oners have constructed several hundred miles of state roads.
The Colorado State Reformatory, like the penitentiary, is now under control of the Board of Corrections. The warden, January 1, 1918, was M. P. Capp.
THE STATE HOME
The State Home, at its inception known as the State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children, was created April 10, 1895. It is designed to be a home for such children as have been found by the county and juvenile courts of the state to be dependent, neglected, maltreated or kept in evil environment. The state thus takes charge of such children as would by reason of parentage and environment grow up lacking education, self-respect and all ideals necessary to make them good and respected citizens. Any child under sixteen may be com- mitted by either the juvenile or county courts. In March, 1896, a remodeled church building in Denver was rented, and the home was started with less than twenty children. By the end of the first biennial period the attendance had reached eighty. At this time a state agent was engaged to find suitable homes for the children and this is now helping materially to reduce the attendance. But no child from this home can be placed in a home on trial or by adoption unless this shall be approved by the superintendent, agent or board of county visitors, or by the county commissioners, or by the agent of the State Board of Charities and Correction.
In 1902 forty acres on South Clarkson and South Washington streets, in Arapahoe County, adjoining Denver, were purchased as the site for the new State Home. A number of tents, together with the stone residence already on the grounds, furnished shelter until the new buildings were completed. Four buildings were erected, all in the Mission style of architecture. The school build- ing. two stories and a basement, contained four school rooms. There was in addition a domestic building, a boys' cottage with large play room, dormitories, baths, etc., a hospital building, with four wards and a boiler house and laundry. In 1908 a new administration building was put up.
·
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
The new girls' building was completed in 1914, and in the same year the nursery was completely remodeled.
The first resolution of the Board of Control declaring boys self-supporting was passed September 14, 1903, and by 1905 twenty boys between fifteen and eighteen years old had been discharged and have all become self-supporting in- dustrious citizens of Colorado.
For the girls a domestic science class was established in 1906, and this has been one of the most effective improvements made since the State Home was opened. In 1907 the superintendents of the Denver schools took charge of the school arrangement and provided teachers for all the home classes. The aver- age number of pupils in attendance during 1910 was 175.
On November 30, 1908, there were in the home 131 boys and 72 girls, a total of 203 ; on November 30, 1910, the school enlarged : girls, 82 ; boys, 133. During the biennial period 69 were adopted. On November 30, 1912, there were in the home 157 boys and 95 girls ; 75 boys and one girl were declared self-supporting ; 46 boys and 43 girls were adopted; 35 boys and 33 girls were indentured. On November 30, 1914, the number in the home was 236; on November 30, 1916, it was 230. The home received from March, 1896, to November 30, 1912, 1,530 children, of whom 46 were in homes on trial; 117 in homes on indenture; 357 have been adopted; 149 restored to parents; 306 have become self-supporting ; 145 died.
On January 11, 1918, the Board of Control for the State Home consists of : Mrs. Clara L. Hunter, president ; Mrs. Margaret Patterson Campbell, Mrs. Par- meter Curtis Porter, Mrs. Anna Reynolds Morse, and William V. Hodges. The superintendent is C. A. Donnelly.
THE STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR BOYS
The General Assembly established the State Industrial School for Boys, May 13, 1881, and on July 16, 1881, with three pupils sent from Custer County, the school was opened in what had been Jarvis Hall, in Golden. When important building changes were made at the State School of Mines, the Industrial School occupied the large building left vacant and added an extension. The grounds comprised five acres, giving ample room for additional buildings. When a sec- ond building was needed Governor Pitkin, with fifty-two other citizens, signed a note to meet the added expenses of enlarging the institution. Four brick build- ings were erected in 1883, and the main building was remodeled. In November, 1882, by loan subscriptions, a shop was erected, a foreman engaged and a broom factory started, but with little success. In 1890 the first cottage was erected, and in 1891 the brickyard was established, the boys making 200,000 brick that year. In 1893-4 they made 465,000 brick. By 1900 a new administration building to replace a burned structure, two cottages and a hospital building had been erected, and with the Sloyd department the entire manual training feature of the school was reorganized. In 1912 the school owned 519 acres of land, a good part of which is under cultivation. The pupils are now assigned to classes in typewriting and bookkeeping, printing, woodworking, gardening, mason and cement work, shoe and harness-making, tailoring, florist's work, boiler and ma- chine work, farming, baking, laundry and culinary work.
832
HISTORY OF COLORADO
The additional cottages have barely kept up with the need for housing room. In 1881 and 1882, 80 were admitted and 5 discharged. In 1899 and 1900, 200 were admitted and 136 discharged. On July 1, 1910, there were 362 inmates. At the end of 1912 there was an average attendance of 367.10. In 1916 the average daily attendance for the biennial period was 295.
The Board of Control for the Industrial School for Boys consists of Otis A. Rooney. of Morrison, president ; Mrs. A. G. Rhoads, of Denver, and D. R. Hatch, of Golden, secretary. Its first superintendent was W. C. Sampson, of Plainfield, Indiana, who served from June, 1881, to April, 1889. Fred L. Padelford as- sumed the office of superintendent August, 1912, and is still in charge. His work has attracted the attention of students along industrial correction lines all over the country.
THE STATE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
On April 4, 1887, the General Assembly created what is now known as the State Industrial School for Girls. Under the act girls convicted of offenses under the law were sentenced to the Golden Reformatory School, as it was then gen- erally called. This was soon stopped for obvious reasons, and the convicted girls were committed to the care of the Sisters of the House of the Good Shepherd in Denver, the county committing bearing the expense of maintenance.
On June 20, 1895, a Board of Control was appointed by the governor and an independent state institution was established under the act of 1887, at what had been known as the St. Cloud Hotel on St. Charles Street near City Park. The women of the state raised sufficient funds to operate the school at this place.
On September 1, 1895, a medical force was organized with four male physi- cians, each appointed to serve three months. These, with a consulting surgeon and a dentist completed the staff.
On March 10, 1898, a committee was appointed and a group of buildings leased, five cottages of six and eight rooms each, with plenty of playground, for a term of one year, in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. At the end of four months the school was in discouraging condition, practically without funds, little credit and an outstanding indebtedness of more than fifteen thousand dollars. Five months later after a most careful and painstaking effort they paid off their debt and had on hand sufficient funds to run the school the following four months. Day school was organized at this time and was doing good work. The popula- tion December 30, 1898, was thirty-two girls.
The lease of the buildings at Aurora expired March, 1900, and after several months the present home was located on what was then known as the Henry Estate at Henry, on the Morrison branch of the C. & S. Railroad, three miles due west of Fort Logan. The purchase price, including the twelve room house and forty acres of land was $8,000.
The move was made August 2, 1900, with thirty-six girls and six officers. Accommodations were generally so inadequate that some of the girls were com- pelled to sleep in the cellar for a time. By the time winter set in arrangements were made for them and a temporary schoolhouse was built. On December I, 1900, there were seventy-one girls.
The first new cottage was opened May, 1902, at a cost of $16,572, thoroughly
833
HISTORY OF COLORADO
well equipped with its own heating plant, electricity, splendid bathing facilities including tubs and showers and accommodated forty girls.
December 1, 1902, found more improvements and a population of 108 girls. In 1904, music was given a place of more importance for the school at this time had three pianos and one of the teachers gave half time to instruction in both voice and piano.
In 1906, the Board of Control secured the services of Miss Marian B. Rud- gers, an institutional woman of experience and ability, from New York, who dur- ing the next five years worked wonders for the school, bringing it up to the present high standard. Her death on January 29, 1912, was a great loss to both the girls and the school.
Under the leadership of Miss Rudgers an honor cottage was instituted where new commitments were placed and kept on their honor unless by some act they were alone responsible for, they were degraded, which rarely happened.
At that time girls who had earned the right to be paroled were kept at the executive building and were given many privileges and liberties. Dancing classes were now being formed, meeting at the class rooms on Saturday afternoons, the assistant superintendent teaching them.
The nurse at this time conducted a class weekly in hygiene and physiology.
In 1908, the disciplinarian cottage was built which was a wonderful help in segregating the troublesome girls as constant association with the better girls had a tendency to affect them.
The Woman's Club of Colorado Springs has for several years made indi- vidual gifts to the girls at Christmas. The Denver Woman's Club has always been much interested in the general welfare of the school and contributes enter- tainments occasionally, many of its members making frequent visits.
In 1910, a cottage was built for the superintendent which includes in it the office for all executive work, the original cottage, the Louisa M. Alcott, having been rebuilt with dormitories upstairs. The same year an orchestra was formed of seventeen pieces which has done and is continuing to do splendid work.
Physical culture has been developed and is helping materially in building up the physical condition of the girls. Out-of-door games are enjoyed, especially baseball, during the summer months. Under the direction of officers the girls have made and laid cement walks.
April 7, 1913, the Marian Rudgers cottage was opened, a model building in every detail. The assembly hall was opened Thanksgiving Day, 1912, and re- ligious services are held there every Sunday
At present the home has three day school rooms with two sessions daily, and competent teachers in dressmaking, model sewing, basketry, arts, music, domes- tic science, etc. There is now a class of thirty-four meeting daily at Red Cross work.
The population in 1918 is 132 girls.
During the summer the girls work in the gardens the aim being to raise all the vegetables used during the year.
The Board of Control for the Industrial School for Girls at Morrison, con- sists of Edward C. Stimson, of Denver, President, Mrs. John Atkins, Mrs. James D. Whitmore, Mrs. Henry Van Kleek, secretary, all of Denver, Mrs. Mary A. Anderson of Morrison. The present superintendent is Elizabeth Purcell. In
Vol. 1-53
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
the last biennial period there were 105 new commitments, the number placed on parole was 118. The number discharged after a year's test on parole was 91.
THE INDUSTRIAL WORKSHOP FOR THE BLIND
The blind people of Colorado began the agitation for a state workshop in 1905, when the Colorado Association of the Adult Blind enlisted the aid of Rev. John W. Huston of the Fifth Avenue Church. He not alone aided in drafting the bill but secured Senator Wm. M. Robertson to introduce and sponsor the measure. In the House of Representatives J. J. Laton presented the measure. The first appropriation which the act carried was $10,000, and on April 18, 1907, the first Board of Control was appointed consisting of Rev. John W. Huston, Robert Morris and Samuel W. Mohler. They were succeeded by Thomas Drake, E. P. Gallup and B. M. Webster, all of Denver.
The building rented and occupied was at the corner of Jason Street and West Eleventh Avenue, Denver, and the shop was opened August 13, 1907. A donation of $500 by Senator James C. Burger, together with the state fund, sufficed to buy a complete outfit for broom-making.
During the first biennial period it taught fifteen men and seven women and furnished employment to thirty-two people. During this time it sold $2,389.83 worth of its finished product. During the biennial period ending November 30, 1910, fourteen men and six women were given instruction and employment. The average wage earned by the blind employes for the period was $1.02 per day. This average was slightly reduced in the biennial period ending November 30, 1912, but the usefulness of the workshop was made clear and a building was erected in 1913, at 618 E. Arizona Avenue. This contains three separate depart- ments, and the output was nearly doubled by reason of the additional facilities.
The Board of Control of the Colorado Industrial Workshop for the Blind at Denver consists of B. M. Webster, of Denver, president ; Albert A. Reed, of Denver, secretary; C. W. Hall, of Denver, treasurer. The superintendent is R. M. Winston. During the last biennial period twenty-two blind men and women were given work.
The employes made 72,141 brooms during 1916, and with the surplus on hand, sold in all 82,894 brooms for which the workshop received $19,934.75. In addi- tion to the inmates four blind men now make a living selling the brooms made in the workshop.
THE COLORADO STATE HOME AND TRAINING SCHOOL FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES
The great work of caring for mental defectives in the United States began in 1848 when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts opened an experimental school for this class, and was followed by New York in 1851. From this small begin- ning has grown the vast work now being carried on by fully three-fourths of all the states of the Union.
In Colorado the need of an institution for this class was first mentioned among the recommendations in the report of the State Board of Charities and Correction in 1892. In nearly all the reports of this board, up to and including that made in 1908, this recommendation was repeated, and during this time
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
papers, showing its need, were read at several of the conferences, as well as before medical and other societies. In 1905, and again in 1907, bills to establish this institution were introduced, but failed of passage. In 1907, Governor Buch- tel urged the need of an institution in his inaugural address and in his message to the Legislature.
In 1908, after an investigation into the number of cases and cost of their sup- port in each county, the matter was taken up by Mrs. James Williams, of Den- ver, who visited each hold-over member of the Legislature and laid before him the urgent need of an institution for the care and training of these unfortunates. Following the election of 1908, Mrs. Williams also visited all new members.
The bill was introduced in the Seventeenth General Assembly by Senator John S. Irby, and through the efforts of Senators James C. Burger and Thomas J. Ehrhart was brought out of committee and finally passed, and was approved . by Governor Shafroth May 5, 1909.
An application for land on which to locate the institution was made to the State Board of Land Commissioners and, after many sites were considered, the choice fell upon one consisting of 310 acres, situated in Jefferson County, about two miles west of Aravada.
Thomas F. Daly and Charles D. Griffith, of Denver, and Benjamin F. Lowell, of Colorado Springs, were appointed on the first Board of Control. Under their supervision the erection of the building was begun in April, 1910, the center and one wing of the main building being completed that year. In 1911, with the appropriation granted by the Eighteenth General Assembly, the remaining wing of the building was built, as well as the powerhouse and laundry building.
The Home and Training School was opened for the reception of inmates in July, 1912. Because of the lack of facilities for receiving and properly classi- fying cases of all ages, and also in order to emphasize the school feature of the Home and Training School, the Board of Control decided to admit only cases between the ages of five and fourteen years. This limit was later raised to twenty years.
As the name implies, this institution has two chief purposes : the first, to offer a home to these unfortunates who cannot be properly cared for in their own homes, and when grown cannot cope with the world; and, second, to intelligently train those capable of receiving instruction, that they may be made happier by being kept busy as well as partially self-supporting.
Dr. A. P. Busey, who had been head of the Colorado State Hospital, was made medical superintendent. On November 30, 1912, there were 25 males and 20 females in the home. On November 30, 1914, this had grown to 80, the capacity of the institution. On July 1, 1916, the number had grown to 82 with a considerable waiting list. This, however, has been provided for by an appro- priation of $30,000 for additional colleges.
A little over half of the inmates are capable of mental and manual training ; for these ample provision is made, there being kindergarten, elementary English, manual and industrial classes.
Many of the boys work on the farm, in the garden, in the laundry and in the kitchen. Boys and girls alike assist in the house work.
The State Board of Commissioners in charge of the State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives on January 1, 1918, consisted of Benjamin F.
836
HISTORY OF COLORADO
Lowell, of Colorado Springs, president; Charles D. Griffith, of Denver, and Gustav Anderson, of Denver, secretary. Dr. A. P. Busey continues as medical superintendent.
MOTHERS' COMPENSATION ACT
During the twelve months ending June 30, 1915, the Boards of County Com- missioners of eleven counties : Arapahoe, Boulder, Conejos, Denver, Douglas, Fremont, Garfield, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Morgan, and Pueblo, established funds to carry out, in part, the provisions of the Mothers' Compensation Act. El Paso, Jefferson, Mesa, Weld and Yuma honored court requisitions made under the law. The total expended by these sixteen counties was $27,163.20. The total num- ber of families aided from July 1, 1914, to June 30, 1915, was 148, including 489 children. In the past two years this record has been greatly improved upon. Records, however, are not available until the end of the biennial period.
Under the Mothers' Compensation Act assistance was given to 205 heads of families and 675 children in the twenty-four months ending November 30, 1916.
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