The Boys

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

I got the impression that there were more boys in the orphanage than girls, but perhaps this is because the only cottage remaining, number 11, was for boys or due to Harvey Ronglien being a prominent 'voice' for the State School children.

Typical boys' jobs were  scrubbing and polishing floors, mowing lawns, cleaning streets, helping garbage haulers, shoveling walks, working in the garden, dairy barns, bakery, hospital, laundry and nursery.  There was a policy that all school work was completed in the classroom, so as not to interfere with jobs. 


The railway ran past the orphanage just to the north and in the heydey of 'hobos', some of the boys hopped on the trains to try that lifestyle.  Others just threw apples to the hobos they sighted.  Given the rigid structure of their lives and the amount of work they did, it's no wonder that hobos were idolized by the boys.  (Who knew there was such delineation between the terms hobo, tramp and bum?)  Though the lure of the railway was strong, most of the boys who did run away returned after a couple of days, taking their punishment; for all it sounds a difficult place, they at least had food and a bed.

They will have worked hard.  There were about 270 acres of land given over to farming.   I was fascinated by the lists of produce, the amounts and the prices.  Of course the intention was that the school be entirely self sufficient and one doesn't feed, clothe and house 500 children and however many staff without work.  I love the idea of a quart of milk costing 3 cents.  I've yet to experience salsify; what is an oyster plant or a ground cherry?

I'm pretty sure that much of what was grown in the greenhouse was for sale though, asters and begonias not being not being foodstuffs.

I can't help but wonder about the balance sheet of this place.  If the children didn't pay their own way with their work, I'm sure they came close to it.

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I was 'struck' (ha) by the boxing gear. Around age 8 my Dad was into boxing; I have yellow satin shorts and a collection of photos to prove it. I think boxing was the 'in' sport of the day in the 20s and 30s.

There was, however, obviously time and energy left for fun - and mischief.

The School

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

"Only one year before the Owatonna school opened [that would be 1884], the legislature passed Minnesota's first compulsory education law. 



This new law required children between eight and sixteen to attend school twelve weeks a year. 





The Owatonna State School went much further in its efforts to educate the children sent there - it required an aggressive educational program for the children which had all residents over the age of five in class for ten months per year.





The school also maintained a kindergarten - a concept that would not come into practice in the area for many years to come. 





Early on, only the first three grades were taught at the school, but as time went on and the populations increased, so did the scope of classes.  Later, high school students would enter the Owatonna School system.

In the years to follow, a vocational component was added to keep pace with the educational state-of-the-art movement in the rest of the nation."

The Assistant Matron

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

Apparently the Matron wasn't on her own, she had help.  They each took alternate 24 hour shifts and had their own bedroom. 




The Assistant Matron's duties including watching over the children; monitoring bath time, hygiene, bedtime and playtime. 

She also helped mend clothing and darn socks. 

On occasion she would take children on walks around town.

Mom in the Navy

Once again, it's my Mom's birthday.  I am almost more surprised at how quickly these anniversaries come up than I am about my own rapidly increasing age.  You know what they say about having fun and time... 

Mom wasn't in the Navy (but her favourite aunt, Margaret, was).  Rather, I think Mom is wearing this because her first husband was in the Navy, as was her step-father.  That would put this photo at about 1937-8, when she was 19-20 years old. 

I always wished I'd inherited her dimple.



The Girls

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

Boys and girls were kept strictly segregated.  There are photos of them all playing together in a playground, but all the comments say that these are 'obviously set up' as this never happened.  

That included siblings, of course.  There were seemingly no provisions to keep brothers and sisters or even same sex siblings in contact.  There was story where one child was adopted, but not his brother.  One hopes that was an exception or that policies changed with the times, but even in 1945 it was a different world to today. 

The children all had jobs.  Typical girls' jobs included:  assisting with housework; scrubbing and polishing floors; working in the kitchens, dining rooms, nursery, hospital and laundry; caring for younger girls; waitressing in the employees' dining room; maid service in Superintendent's home; helping with summer vegetables and fruits during canning season.  Reading this list one wonders what the staff did themselves other than supervise the children. 



There were morning routines:

Girls that worked in the Main Kitchen had a 5.30 am wake-up call; all other girls were up at 6 am.

Beds were immediately made, and perfectly, or it was re-made until perfect (these routines related by a State Schooler from the 1940s).

Blankets were folded and returned to the cupboard.

Girls proceeded downstairs to the first first to dress by their individual, assigned chair.  Chairs were big at this institution.  Every child had one and reported to it at specific times of the day.

Those up at 5.30 went to their jobs.  The rest sat in their chairs until time to go to breakfast in the Main Building

No Talking was allowed while waiting to go to breakfast.

Bedtime rules included

Nightgowns were kept in a cloth bag hung on the back of the individual assigned chair.

The girls all undressed by their chair in the Main Room; there was no privacy.

They got blankets from the cupboard on the second floor.

The youngest were in bed with lights out at 7.30, then 8.00 and the eldest had a bedtime of 8.30pm.  The only exception was on Christmas Eve when everyone could stay up until 9.00 pm

No talking was allowed after lights out.

The Matron

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

The quality of life for the children at the State School seems to have depended upon what Matron was in charge of their care. 



The Matron's bedroom

Each cottage, housing from 25-31 children, had a live in Matron, whose responsibilities included

Keep children's clothing in good repair.  See that the children, beds, and their clothing were kept free from vermin and inspect and condemn any clothing, bedding, etc, before sending to rag room.

Ensure that each child receives a full body bath twice a week.

Ensure that beds are neatly made up by the children.

Ensure that every part of the Cottage is kept tidy and neat.

Ensure that children are never left alone for any great length of time, or in the care of another person.



Monitor that children were never sent to the city without permission of Superintendent.

Report children needing medical or surgical care at once to the resident physician.


As time and strength allow, assist children in preparing their school lessons, talk with them about the books they may be reading, and occasionally read interesting books or papers to the smaller children who cannot read intelligently.


Correct the bad habits of the children, and, by kind persuasion and example, awaken a desire for a higher and better life.


Teach the general principals of religion and some simple religious exercises should be observed every evening or mornings.  Sabbath school lessons should be thoroughly taught.

Monitor the children and do not allow them to remain out of doors during rainy weather and when the ground is very wet in the winter season.

Remain with the children when they are out of school and in the Cottage. 

Bill unkindly remarked on the disparities
between the mannequin and the photograph.

The displays in Cottage 11 describe Miss Morgan, but another display in the main building shows an old radio which belonged to a matron at the State School in the 1940s.  She allowed 'her boys' into her room to listen to radio programs with her.  It was considered an unusually generous thing to do and the boys remembered her kindness in sharing her radio. 

"Miss Morgan, Our Matron

It is believed Miss Morgan was the Cottage 11 Matron since it opened in 1923.  She remained in that capacity until 1945.  We boys remember an unattractive, single, middle-aged woman with red hair.  It seemed her entire life revolved around C-11.  To our knowledge she had no outside interestes, and rarely took a vaction.

Unlike the mother image she was expected to portray, Miss Morgan could be hard and cruel.  Only rarely could she be kind and compassionate.  To us boys, her greatest love was her dog Pal.  A strict disciplinarian, Miss Morgan never realised her actions could dictate a child's future.  Unfortunately, she touched the lives of hundreds of young boys."

Miss Morgan doesn't sound a very nice woman, but neither does she sound as though she had a particularly happy life herself.

A Mr. Harvey Ronglien, ward of the state from 1932-1943, narrates a number of videos and written pieces on display.  He recalls Miss Morgan having beaten him severely for not dressing with the appropriate tie for one occasion.  That said, he states that as a child he loved Miss Morgan.  He tells about discussing her with another former State Schooler at a re-union.  That man's view was that were Miss Morgan standing in front of him he would liked to have killed her, he still hated her so. 



I think this indicates that how a child fared in an orphanage depended also on their own emotional resilience, but of course one might or might not have that.  Harvey says children who came to the orphanage at an early age seemed to adapt more easily, having never known better.  Children who came into the home later in life found the institutional lifestyle very hard to accept.

The Nursery

This is a series of posts about Owatonna State School Museum (starting here), within a series of posts about our three week holiday in the US in June, which starts here.

When we first arrived at the State School Museum, I was pretty emotional.  I snapped pictures of everything, most of which didn't come out well because things were in glass cabinets.  It's not a big place, the museum itself, as the building now also serves as office space for other government departments.  Once I'd been all the way through the three corridors of photos and mementoes I realised I wouldn't find anything there that was specific to my Dad.  I knew he was there for a relatively short period of time, having been born in April 1918 and adopted in January 1920. 



Then I started getting interested in the place for its historical aspect and also to try to understand what it would have been like for those who grew up or who worked there.  I needed some detachment to get through the visit and not just because my Dad was there at some point. 

The Nursery was built in 1912 to care for children under three years of age.  It was demolished in 1970. 




"Upon arrival in the nursery, the small child was placed in total isolation for three weeks, during which time a physical, various tests, and immunization shots were given.

The goal was to place the small child out for adoption as quickly as possible.  This often did not happen.  As a result, the small child's early mental development was greatly hindered."



Excerpt from the head nurse in the 1937-1938 Biennial Report:

"It is my belief the addition of nursery school facilities, ie a trained nursery school teacher and the small amount of standard equipment necessary, would aid greatly in fostering the more rapid development of these borderline children.  It is not possible at the present to devote any appreciate amount of time to individual training expect in the physical sphere."



My question is, if the nursery was built in 1912, what were they doing with the babies up to 1937?  In the absence of trained staff and equipment it must have just been a big warehouse.

"As farmers, my husband came in one day and said, 'You know, I would like to adopt a little boy.'  I said, 'Fine, and I'd like to adopt a little girls, too.'  We went to Owatonna and a matron took me to a large room with baby girls lined up around the walls.  The matron said, 'You can pick any baby you want.'  I said, I couldn't look at all those babies.  I took the first one I came to...and I got a good one."

Although today children are placed in foster care, in individual homes, their futures are still blighted compared with children brought up in 'forever families'.