Children of the poor: infant mortality in the Erie County Almshouse during the mid nineteenth century

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511542534.006

5 - Children of the poor: infant mortality in the Erie County Almshouse during the mid nineteenth century

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 August 2009

Rosanne L. Higgins

Edited by

D. Ann Herring and

Alan C. Swedlund

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Rosanne L. Higgins: Affiliation:
Department of Health Sciences, Cleveland State University, 1983 East 24th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115–2440, USA
D. Ann Herring: Affiliation:
McMaster University, Ontario
Alan C. Swedlund: Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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Summary

Introduction

Katz (1995) suggests that the purpose of poor relief historically was to prevent death from starvation, disease, homelessness, and lack of clothing. Thus the growing number of destitute people in the United States at the beginning of the nineteenth century prompted the establishment of almshouses to provide relief. These institutions were intended to isolate individuals from the corrupting influences of the outside world that were alleged to lead to a life of laziness, alcohol abuse and, ultimately, pauperism (Katz 1983, 1986, 1995). The failure of the almshouse system to provide for its inmates is well documented (Katz 1983, 1986, 1995; Lawrence 1976; Leiby 1978; Rothman 1971). Almshouses were overcrowded with immigrants who spent their last pennies on passage to America, arriving destitute and often sick. Inmates frequently endured appalling living conditions, inadequate food and exposure to infectious diseases. The almshouses in New York State exemplify these deficiencies. Inspections in 1856 indicated that living conditions in many of the State's institutions were ‘ … badly constructed, ill-arranged, ill-warmed and ill-ventilated’ (New York State Senate Report of 1857, in Katz 1986). Mortality records from the Monroe County Almshouse in Rochester, New York, also suggest that these institutions were pesthouses, where many people who were suffering from infectious diseases came to die (Higgins et al. 2002; Higgins and Sirianni 1995; Lanphear 1986; Sirianni and Higgins 1995).

Type: Chapter
Information: Human Biologists in the Archives
Demography, Health, Nutrition and Genetics in Historical Populations
, pp. 78 - 95

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511542534.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2002

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