Beacon Light's Timeline
1886: Rev. Charles C. (John) Husted comes to Bradford from Jamestown to
establish a home for children on Barbour Street. These children
are either orphaned or living in squalor in the Whitechapel settlement
(Bennett and Barbour Streets area) inhabited by lumber workers and
the impoverished.First "inmate" is taken into the home for
children maintained by charitably-inclined people of Bradford
and surrounding areas.
Beacon Light Mission officers are named; F. M. Hotchkiss,
vice-president, runs meetings of the Board. Also, the mission
is moved to Browntown Road near Custer City when the Barbour Street
site becomes too small. April 9: The home is incorporated as the
"Beacon Light Mission". August 10: On this day, "Views
of the Beacon Light Mission near Custer City: A Charitable Institution
Maintained as a Home for Friendless Children" is published
in Bradford News. It describes the twenty-six "inmates"
cared for at the home; most of which are "homeless waifs",
or living in "homes of indescribable kinds": * The youngest,
10-weeks-old, is a "Negro infant that was removed from squalid
surroundings in the Whitechapel". * Another child is "the
little one found in the Maston house at the time of the Wagoner
murder". * Four of the children are the "progeny of
a man named Morrison, who formerly gathered swill and lived in
a hovel on the Washington Street road. The children were being
fed from swill barrels". * A five-year-old boy is known as
"the ‘Opiate Victim’. He was ‘doped’
with opiates of different kinds during his babyhood and is now
a pitiable object lesson". · A seven-year-old girl
"spent the first five years of her life in a Whitechapel
hovel. She was allowed but little liberty and few persons knew
of her existence. When Mr. Husted took charge of the girl, …
she appeared to be an incorrigible. Her language was a grotesque
mixture of Whitechapel slang and profanity and her greatest need
appeared to be whiskey."
August 6: The Children’s Aid Society takes charge of the Beacon
Light Mission when Rev. C. C. Husted dies in the Bradford Hospital
at the age of 53. According to the August 7, 1905 Bradford Era,
"Some weeks ago, Mr. Husted became ill, his malady being typhoid
fever. He was taken to the Bradford Hospital and given treatment
under which he rapidly recovered. About 10 days ago he was considered
well enough to leave the institution and was taken to his at the
Mission near Custer. After returning home his condition again
developed serious symptoms and on Saturday night, he was again
removed to the hospital. He was found to be suffering from an
acute attack of appendicitis and on Sunday morning he was operated
on. The surgeon’s knife disclosed conditions which precluded hopes
of recover. He rallied from the operation, but grew weaker as
the hours passed at [9:30 p.m.], the end came…The deceased is
survived by his widow and eight children named respectively, Frank,
Gussie, John, Victor, Ralph, Flossie, Walter and Mildred Husted."
November: It costs $185.96 to run the mission this month.
December 29: Fire destroys the Browntown location (now also known
as "McKean County Children’s Home") run by custodians Mr. and
Mrs. John Stark. According to The Bradford Era of
December 30,
1915, "Thirty-one little inmates of the McKean County Children’s
Home located near Custer City were driven from their refuge between
5 and 6 o’clock yesterday morning by the total destruction of
the home by fire…Fear of a panic prevented dressing of the children
before their escape from the institution and while some of the
younger ones were carried the majority walked in their night clothing
a quarter mile to the home of A. A. Foster on the south and to
George Courtright’s residence on the north…News of the casualty
quickly spread about the city and charitable persons began at
once to offer clothing, money and other practical assistance to
officers of the Children’s Aid Society (Mrs. John P. Melvin, Mrs.
E. V. Cody, and Mrs. S. E. VanTine) under whose auspices the institution
was conducted."
December 30: A meeting of the finance committee
of the McKean County Children’s Home is held at the office of
Hon. Lewis Emery, Jr. to discuss purchase of the Edgewood Club
for the orphans made homeless by the fire at the Browntown location.
The finance committee includes: Hon. Lewis Emery, Jr., chairman;
H. G. Barcroft; S. G. Coffin; John Ley; S. P. Kennedy; L. E. Mallory,
Sr.; W. L. Curtis; A. D. Burns; S. A. Mundy; Hon. J. W. Bouton;
Hon. Samuel W. Smith; W. H. Davis; G. Scott Smith; Mrs. S. E.
VanTine; Mrs. S. R. Dresser; Grace E. Emery; Mrs. J. P. Melvin;
Mrs. Bey Phillips; Mrs. F. G. Crittenden; Mrs. Claude Matson;
Miss Anna Miller; Mrs. A. J. Bond; and Mrs. Myron Matson.
1924
Fire destroys a portion of the mission located in the former
Edgewood Club.
1925
John Ley donates money to erect roughly half of the present East
Main Street building.
In June 1939, the name "Beacon Light Mission" is changed to "Children's Home of Bradford."
The most complete records of the mission start in 1929. They
are typewritten and filed by Mrs. R. W. Edgett, Executive Secretary
of the Board, who is paid for her services (she later becomes
treasurer of the Board). The minutes of the Board of Directors
give a picture of the mission growing dramatically, but growing
with all sorts of problems – financial, social, and domestic.
They also give a picture of many hard-working and dedicated persons
both on the staff and on the Board, seeing to the children in
their care: * * On the staff there is a superintendent or superintendents
(often a husband and wife). Other titles are housekeeper, cook, laundress, boys’ supervisor,
girls’ supervisor, etc. In many ways the staff seem to be oriented
toward maintenance work as they were toward caring for the social
and psychological needs of the children. There seems to be turnover
in the position of superintendent, because he or she is not satisfied
with his or her position, or the Board is not satisfied with the
superintendent’s performance. * The superintendent position is
not easy. The minutes speak of the older boys being saucy to and
swearing at once of the female superintendents and, at another
time, a boy threatening the superintendent with a jungle knife.
At times, there is also in-house feuding among the staff. In 1934,
the minutes report "trouble" between the superintendent and the
laundress. * The Board in these years is almost completely made
up of women who represent some of the best known and respected
families in Bradford. The monthly meetings are held mainly either
at the Women’s Literary Club or the Current Events Club. These
women are quite concerned with and involved in the day-by-day
ongoing problems of running the mission. The Board committees
had such names as "Household Supplies", "Health and Dental Care",
"Clothing", "Buildings and Grounds", "Admissions and Dismissals",
"Recreation", "Education", etc. The women take the children to
the dentist and eye doctor; visit sick children in the hospital;
buy mittens, underwear, face cloths, etc.; talk with teachers
or school principals; inspect the sanitary conditions in the washrooms;
secure passes for the children at Shea’s Theatre; plan and run
Halloween parties; buy a new suit for a boy about to graduate
from high school; inspect a home in town where one of the older
girls who is hired to do housework… * The health of the children
is a continual problem and concern. Many tonsillectomies are performed.
One year there are bad cases of ringworm among the boys. The home
has to be quarantined a few times – once for scarlet fever and
a couple of times for polio. * The behavior of the children is
another problem. Occasionally, a child has to be dismissed and
placed in a more sever correctional institution. In 1948 Mr. Jones,
an attorney, and the staff discuss punishments with the Board.
It is decided that cruel punishments should never be administered.
And yet this sentence appears in the minutes: "Mr. and Mrs. Dodge
(the superintendents at the time) insisted that it was necessary
to whip some of them to keep them under control. * There is a
close relationship between the Board and the County Commissioners,
who place the children in the home and pay toward their upkeep.
Often, the advice and decisions of Judge Charles G. Hubbard are
sought. * The home gropes its way through the Depression years,
when parents are out of work and poor, and when salaries and allowances
are unbelievably low. The home deals with blackout regulations
and the older boys going off to join the Armed Services during
the World War II years. In the late 1940s, costs are beginning
to rise and salaries of necessity have to be raised. * The plant
continually grows. In 1935, Thomas Kennedy, prominent oil man,
donates funds for to construct the other half of the present East
Main Street building. Other growth is made possible by other generous
individuals: A. J. Bond gives a monetary gift for a living room
to be added to the main building; Mrs. Alfred Mulhaupt provides
money for improving the grounds; the Emery family provides monies
to furnish the kitchen, as well as making subsequent generous
bequests. * In 1947, welfare workers inspect the home and class
it as "C", which disappoints the Board.
Mr. Fred M. Salisbury is the superintendent of the Children’s
Home of Bradford.
The Board of Directors is headed by Dr. R. Chapin Smith. Other
members of the Board include: Mrs. Donald Bovaird, Francis Cahill,
Mr. Coatsworth, Mrs. Bennett Friedman, Leo C. Gallina, Robert
P. Habgood Jr., Thomas Hannon, Mrs. William Healey, William D.
Mackowski, Mrs. Raymond T. Maurey, Miss Helen McKay, William McCord,
Howard Nickel, Mrs. Willis Oliver, William Schubert, Mrs. Leslie
B. Silverstine, Mrs. Edward R. Torgler, Mrs. Walker White, Mrs.
Robert Wick, James D. Wolfe, Mrs. John W. Bryner Sr., the Rev.
Dr. Richard W. Evans, Mrs. Victor Solomon, and Mrs. J. Paul Jones.
The Children’s Home becomes affiliated with the Child Welfare
League of America and establishes a goal to provide the best child
care possible
October 22, 1972: An open house and dedication ceremony
are held for the three new Ramsbottom Center cottages with guest
speaker Mrs. Helene Wohlgemuth, Secretary of the Department of
Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. $425,000 in construction
and furnishings for the cottages are made possible by a financial
gift of Mrs. Grace Ramsbottom, well known philanthropist of Bradford.
Anne Mitchell is social director of the Children’s Home; Mrs.
Sandy O’Connell is secretary.
Thomas E. Urban is named Executive Director of the Children’s
Home. The Board of Directors change the emphasis of the agency
and begin the development of a residential treatment center. Here,
young people will learn new ways to live and function within the
community.
March 22, 1973: Dr. R. Chapin Smith, President of the
Board of Directors, announces that the Ramsbottom Center cottages
are officially in use as Intermediate Care Facilities for the
Mentally Retarded (ICFMR). Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Ballangee are the
houseparents.
75th Anniversary - The Children’s Home cares for children between
10 and 18-years-old who are experiencing problems of adjustment
at home and school and lack good decision-making ability. 47 adolescents
are being served from Pennsylvania and New York counties in the
full-service residential treatment center. The agency’s goal is
to provide quality child care in a learning environment where
personal growth may develop. Future plans include providing a
broader base of community-based services.
February: March: A basic education
department establishment is authorized. 387 East Main Street is
acquired.
June 4: 80th Anniversary - an open house
is held at East Main Street building. The Children’s Home consists
of five components: housing in the East Main Street building for
30 clients; the Alternative Education Program serving 23 children
in the East Main Street building (the program is certified to
provide special education services to children who are learning
disabled/socially and emotionally disturbed); the Ramsbottom cottages
house 24 children and young adults who are severely or profoundly
mentally-retarded and who also have physical and/or emotional
problems; the trained foster care program for 15 children; as
well as an apartment building for six children, aged 16 and over
who have no home and need to transition into community living.
The children come from 32 counties, primarily in Pennsylvania,
but also from New York. The home’s programs and services are financed
by the federal government and private contributions.
The Alternative Education Program is approved by the Pennsylvania
Department of Education. March: A pension plan is instituted for
the employees. May: Asbestos is removed from the main building.
November: New board members are: Denise Jadlowiec, William Moore,
Craig Hartburg, Robert Grant, William Mackowski, and Lee Morehouse.
A job training program is approved.
The 90th Anniversary Celebration is held with a keynote address
given by The Honorable Thomas Frampton. Music is performed by
"The Suncatchers", a vocal group made up of residents of the home.
Agency programs include: residential treatment facilities, specialized
foster family care, the Alternative Education Program, and an
Intensive Treatment Program. Children’s Home of Bradford Treatment
and Education Center in Custer City hosts an open house. In May of 1994, 23 Williams Street is purchased. September 1995, 8 School Street Group home is purchased.
The Children’s Home
is accredited with commendation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations. The agency meets the highest standards
not only in health care, but in every aspect of its operation
from how the food service is run to how the property is maintained.
Accreditation will allow for the state to pick up 100% of the
cost of care for children - costs shift from the counties to Medicare.
For the first time since 1916, children aren’t living at the East
Main Street building - all the children are either living in the
8 group homes or in foster care. The Alternative Education Program
operates a school in both Bradford and Port Allegany.
Beacon Light opens a 10-bed emergency shelter for at-risk
school-aged children on the second floor of the 800 East Main
Street building, who must be temporarily removed from their home.
The shelter provides a safe and secure residential setting for
children, with educational supports to help individuals maintain
their school work and therapeutic counseling to assist in resolving
emotional and psychological problems. Compliance with mandated
facility requirements is also a concern. The current shelter is
not handicapped accessible. While the shelter passes all fire
and facility safety regulations of the Department of Public Welfare,
it will not meet the treatment standards of The Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) upon its
next evaluation in 2002. Among numerous issues of concern are:
the need for air conditioning, surveillance systems, and facilities
to meet specialized needs.
Ground is broken for the construction of the new Emergency
Shelter on the 800 East Main Street campus. The new facility was
designed with the input of the shelter staff and the needs of
the child in crisis in mind. It will be built on the East Main
Street campus across the road from the Ramsbottom Center Cottages,
and will be accessed from First Street by a new driveway to merge
with the current driveway by our garages. The climate controlled,
13,500 square foot facility will have 20 private bedrooms, offices
for individual and group counseling, two classrooms, a large recreation
room, and an integrated security system to assure client and staff
safety and comfort. It is also anticipated that parts of the facility
will be used for training and other group meetings. The education
and recreation wing will be available to schedule special events
and can be closed off from the main shelter facility. A separate
entrance to this area will be available.102 Williams Street becomes the first Waiver home for Ramsbottom Center, housing two adults.
The Emergency Shelter project is completed and a ceremony is
held with a dedication of a donor wall and commemorative Board
of Directors plaque is erected.
2008
