Chartered in 1817, the Female Orphan Society, New Orleans was known from 1818 onward as the Poydras Asylum or Poydras Home. The collection consists of the administrative and financial records of the Poydras Home, an orphanage for girls. There are admission records, registers, mayor's requests for admission of children, minute books, correspondence, reports, bills, receipts, checks, case histories, ledgers, property records, tax records, treasurer's books, check stub books, photographs, drawings, and plans.

Biographical Note

Chartered in 1817, the Female Orphan Society, New Orleans was known from 1818 onward as the Poydras Asylum or Poydras Home. It was originally a haven for children and widows left destitute during the yellow fever epidemic. A wealthy French merchant, Julien Poydras, was an early supporter and donated a home at St. Charles Avenue and Julia Street for the use of the Society. He also donated the then-significant sum of $100. In appreciation, the Board of Managers changed the Society's name to Poydras Asylum, later to become Poydras Home. Because of overcrowding at its original location, Poydras Home moved to a new location on Magazine Street and Jefferson Avenue in 1857. Over the years, the Poydras Home has changed its mission from serving orphaned children to providing care to the elderly.

Subject/Index Terms

Children -- Institutional care -- Louisiana.
Orphanages -- Louisiana -- New Orleans -- History.
Poydras Home (New Orleans, La.)

Administrative Information

Repository: Louisiana Research Collection

Access Restrictions: Restricted use. Researchers are required to sign a client confidentiality agreement, and agree to neither record nor reveal information regarding clients of the Poydras Home.

Use Restrictions: Physical rights are retained by the Lousiana Research Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Acquisition Source: Board of Managers of the Poydras Home (Female Orphan Society)

Preferred Citation: Poydras Home records, Manuscripts Collection 69, Louisiana Research Collection, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118.

Processing Information: Collection processed in 1960 and recataloged in 1977 by Guillermo Náñez-Falcón.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid information entered in Archon by LAC Group in 2011.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Administrative records, 1816-1959],
[Series 2: Administrative records: Mayor's requests, 1817-1864],
[Series 3: Milneburg papers, 1836-1932],
[Series 4: Financial correspondence, 1817-1958],
[Series 5: Undated administrative records and financial correspondence],
[Series 6: Other records, history],
[Series 7: Financial vouchers, 1817-1959],
[Series 8: Withholding tax records, 1955-1959],
[Series 9: Auditor's reports, 1927-1959],
[Series 10: Cancelled checks, 1866-1959],
[Series 11: Case histories, circa 1920s-1960],
[Series 12: Printed material, circa 1836-1958],
[Series 13: Bound volumes and oversize material],
[Series 14: Inquiries and duplicates],
[All]

Series 5: Undated administrative records and financial correspondence

Box 26: Undated administrative records and financial correspondence

Tulane University Special Collections