How do I get information about children that were in an Orphanage in Addison Il in the mid 1920s?

Question

How do I get information about children that were in an Orphanage in Addison Il in the mid 1920s?

Answer 1

First I would check the 1920 and 1930 census for the area.  Next I would see whether there are any public records regarding the orphanage by contacting the county public records department.  The may redirect you to the state.

Another option would be to contact any genealogical societies that are in the area.  They may have a membership that can help you find obscure documentation.

Court records and newspapers would be another place to look.  Look up the name of the orphanage and see if they give any particular names.  Local libraries and historical societies may have the old newspapers on microfiche or similar.

Believe it or not, you may also want to see if you can check local school records.  The orphanage, depending on size, may even have had its own on-site school.  Check with the local school district and explain what you are looking for and ask them what school children at the orphanage would have attended.

If this is the same Addison, IL I think it is located in Dupage County near Chicago. I've put some links in the resource section that might get you started.

Lastly, children in an orphanage in the 1920's may have lost family in the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 or may have lost their only custodial parent in WWI.  With this in mind you may also want to look at obituaries in the local paper, local death certificates, or casualty rosters.

Answer 2

You could try searching on google.com... If you are not sure what to type in, try different variations of words..

Such as,

Orphanage Addison II 1920's

Addison II Orphanage

Different things like that. Good luck.

Answer 3

an alternate approach is to do a census search on either side  ie 1920 census and 1930 census. By doing this, you can get some ideas as to the family (example, youngest child? when born? etc).  On rare occasions, you might "catch" them actually listed living in the orphanage itself.

My mother and siblings were placed for a time in a Chicago orphanage. I recently found it to have a website! with history, etc.

All depends on exactly what you are wanting to verify.

edit

http://patsabin.com/dupage/

you may find somethng worthwhile here, also.