The Community of Chase Home: Institutional and Material Components of Children’s Lived Spaces in Victorian Portsmouth

Katherine Evans

The Community of Chase Home: Institutional and Material Components of Children’s Lived Spaces in Victorian Portsmouth

Year: 2016

Summary

The Chase Home for Children opened in 1883, housed in an immigrant-rich neighborhood of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Home accepted children, "without distinction of race, creed, or color*" who needed temporary or long-term care and housing. Chase Home was guided by tenants of the Progressive Era and supported solely by the local community, at a time before state welfare was available. In contrast to single religious denomination orphanages typical in Victorian America, or strict reformatory orphanages in England, Chase Home accepted a diversity of children who were clothed, fed, and entertained by all segments of Portsmouth society. Excavations of a multi-hole privy, kitchen ell, and back yard of the Home reveal the material culture and spatial thumbprint of the children’s activities, while the annual reports further reveal the donated goods and services offered by the community. Combined, these sources help recreate the everyday lives of children in Victorian New England.

Cite this Record

The Community of Chase Home: Institutional and Material Components of Children’s Lived Spaces in Victorian Portsmouth. Katherine Evans. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434744)