By Alessio Gallarotti.
The building which currently houses the University of Connecticut’s cooperative extension center was once a home for abandoned children. Located at 1066 Saybrook Road, it has little resemblance to the relatively ancient orphanage that once resided there.
Built in 1887 during the Victorian era, and in operation until 1957, this building was one of the first in the state to house children who were awaiting adoption or otherwise did not have homes. The house cost nearly eight thousand dollars to build and was made of wood (the building to the north was purchased as an infirmary and is now a private home). It featured twenty-one rooms and two separate dormitories that segregated the boys from the girls. The facility was three stories tall and had two story dormitories. The age range was four to seventeen or nearly every juvenile that was somewhat able-bodied. Sixty children were housed in this home.
John H. Odber of Haddam became the Home’s first superintendent and headed a facility that grew and maintained a good reputation in the community. A Deep River paper described the children as “well trained and in good appearance.” In 1895, a diphtheria outbreak killed 3 children and sickened more than twelve others. Aside, from this unfortunate incident, the home did not receive the gloomy reputation that many others private and public have received.
The towns in the county would together contribute furnishings and other living materials to the home, and charitable organizations would donate toys, games, and other treats around Christmastime. As for the day to day activities of the orphans, they all attended school and church services in Haddam, CT.
John H. Odber resigned in 1904, and it has been said the home earned a less pleasant reputation in the years to come. According to Joan Clark of Haddam, who lived there during the 1930s and 1940s, children were subjected to cruel punishments such as being relegated to the cellar when they misbehaved. Though a breath of fresh air returned along with a fire that burned much of the second story dormitory (which was removed after). This was the new superintendent Ida M. Gladwin of Deep River. Clarke said she was “like an angel,” taking the children to the movies and out to picnics. Clarke said it felt like a family.
Gladwin would serve as superintendent for over two decades and was the last of a line of people who seem to have had a very different outlook on how to govern juveniles. June 1956 was the last month of her tenure, after which the Department of Children and Families assumed control over the children. By 1957, the facility had been converted to a university extension. It was said that the home was in good shape when workers first moved in during the summer of 1957.
The university extension for decades received a $24,000 stipend that was originally for property maintenance in the original legislation. Many former orphans used to (and perhaps still do) visit and ask to walk the grounds. Though not much is left on the surface, perhaps much is buried in the minds of those who lived there.
References:
Charles Stannard. “For 70 Years, Building Housed Orphans.” The Hartford Courant (2001). (Web)
“Middlesex County Orphanage.” The Haddam Historical Society. (Web)
Photo of orphanage from collection of Susan DeCarli. Photo of UConn Ext. Service by Kathy Brown.
