The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/643329
4 2 | L O U I S V I L L E . E D U UofL Archives and Special Collections revives history of local orphans If the genealogy bug bites, UofL's Archives and Special Collections Library can possibly help with your research. Archives and Special Collections houses the historical records from some of the area's prominent orphanages, a resource that will grow as more records are processed and made available to the public. "For genealogists, these kinds of records can be a wonderful collection of in- formation about ancestors," said Carrie Daniels, university archivist and director of Archives and Special Collections. "It's kind of like f nding a pot of gold." The St. Joseph's Children's Home collection was gifted a number of years ago and ranges from the mid-19th to early 20th centuries. Records from the Louisville Baptist Orphans' Home, one of the organizations that became Sunrise Children's Services, run from 1869 to 1950 and just became available to the public in Janu- ary. Other portions of the Sunrise Services' records, including those from the Kentucky Baptist Children's Home, will be available in the future. Collections include photographs, information about the children, such as their training and educational background, and the names of the families they were placed with. There's also general information about orphanage life. UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES To protect privacy, records involving individuals are restricted for 75 years — the public doesn't have access to them unless they can prove the person is deceased. Still, for older ancestors, it's a valuable resource, as the records offer more details about what children's lives were like than most other types of genealogy records, Daniels said. Users are invited to visit Archives and Special Col- lections in the Ekstrom Library from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and library staff can help them use f nding keys to search through organized folders. "There's something really cool about touching the original item that co-existed with your ancestor. It's like time travel. The documents often have a cer- tain smell and feel that makes that history very real," Daniels said. "I think people appreciate that." A large group of boys and girls outside the Baptist Orphans' Home. June 6, 1942. Caufi eld & Shook Collection, Photographic Archives, University of Louisville.