Above: St. Joseph’s Orphanage opened in 1908. (Photos provided)
Throughout the years, the origins surrounding a certain old building overlooking the Little Rock metro have largely faded into the halls of history. But for many, St. Joseph’s Orphanage marked a change in social norms and American culture throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
On July 1, 1907, Bishop John Baptist Morris of the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock purchased a 720-acre farm 4 miles to the north of what is now known as North Little Rock. He then contracted prominent Arkansas architect Charles L. Thompson to prepare the blueprints for an orphanage.
Morris approved the usage of $80,000 in diocesean funds to build the orphanage after receiving the blueprints from Thompson. The final product was a 56,000-square-foot brick-and-stone building with 80 rooms, an attic and a basement. The building also housed a chapel, classrooms, dining rooms, a bakery, a laundry area and a kitchen. Atop the roof of the Italian-style villa was a dome adorned with a white cross. The building’s construction was completed in April 1910.
Orphanages were first established in the United States in the early 1700s to care for children orphaned as a result of armed conflicts and disease as New World settlers embraced their Manifest Destiny. The popularity of orphanages grew in the early 1800s with the influx of immigrants to the United States, growing urbanization, wars, health epidemic and poor economic conditions.
Orphanages were largely viewed as improvements from their colonial ancestors; during colonial settlement, children were often housed with adult criminals and deviants, rendering them even more vulnerable than before. Further, orphanages were largely viewed as an anchor of stability in times of economic and social upheaval, ensuring that even the most vulnerable and unfortunate in society were provided with food, shelter and an education.
The orphanage was built on what had been a 720-acre farm north of town.
Morris put the Order of Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith in charge of overseeing St. Joseph’s Orphanage. Morris offered the Sisters free room and board before paying them $30 a month to care for the orphanage, an amount that increased annually. When the doors first opened in 1910, 66 children moved in to occupy the three stories of St. Joseph’s. This number grew to 300 in 1914.
During World War 1, St. Joseph’s neighbor, Camp Pike (now known as Camp Joseph T. Robinson), was expanding facilities to house soldiers by the tens of thousands, leasing the orphanage building and surrounding acres for three years as living quarters for soldiers and their families. For that three-year period, St. Joseph’s orphanage and school were relocated to Little Rock.
After the war, St. Joseph’s was returned to the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock and continued operations. Sisters and volunteers spent years tending to an expansive farm, rose garden, fruit orchard, cow pastures and hog pens.
The Order of Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith was placed in charge of overseeing St. Joseph’s.
Arkansas author John W. Findley recalled memories of growing up at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in his memoir, Bitter Weeds, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, shortly before his death in 2007. Findley explained that in 1927 when he was a year old, his mother passed away. His father, a business owner unable to care for Findley and his three siblings, brought the children to the orphanage, where they lived in gender-segregated wings. Findley remained at the orphanage until he was 15, when he left and joined the Army. Findley returned to the orphanage after the war, describing the return in his memoir.
“Upon my discharge, I went back to St. Joseph’s to visit Sister Michael, where she told me there was no market for machine gunners. So, I took advantage of the G.I. Bill of Rights and went to school for industrial electricians,” Findley wrote.
After graduating and starting his own family, Findley returned to the orphanage decades later to begin writing his memoir. Sister Vivian Luyet, one of the last sisters to live at the orphanage, gave Arkansas Catholic a glimpse into life at the orphanage and Findley’s youth in a 2010 interview.
By 1914, St. Joseph’s was home to 300 children.
“Findley and his wife, Ruth, came to St. Joseph’s almost every year to take pictures. He was always disappointed when things had changed. He dearly loved the nuns, and the nuns dearly loved him. We became good friends. He died in 2007, but Ruthie still writes me, Sister Rosalie and Sister Anne Michele all the time.”
With the number of orphanages, foster homes and transient children swelling in the mid-20th century, the United States Congress began to pass laws aimed at providing a safety net for the poor and vulnerable, for the sake of their children. Many economic incentives and systems of federal support were put in place to help low-income families make ends meet instead of giving their children away.
For many children, St. Joseph’s was the only home they ever knew.
As the need for orphanages dwindled, in 1978 St. Joseph’s moved away from operating as one. Instead, St. Joseph’s operated as a daycare and kindergarten for local children until 1997, when many of the Benedictine Sisters began to return home to Fort Smith to serve a growing population there. Two Sisters remained at St. Joseph’s until late 2007.
The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock continued to use the building as a retreat center for religious events before signing a 50-year lease with the nonprofit St. Joseph Center of Arkansas in 2010, with the latter in charge of preserving the structure and studying possible uses for it.
The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas listed the property as an endangered historic structure in 2013. Later that year, St. Joseph Center of Arkansas announced plans to use the building and surrounding acres for agricultural, arts and education programs.
The old orphanage is finding new life as a community gathering place.
Today, Arkansans can find all sorts of educational and community-building events at St. Joseph’s, including farmers’ markets and farm stands, classes on canning and preserving, naturalist camps, animal programs, gardening events, fruit and vegetable harvesting, tours of the property and even yoga alongside goats.
Once created as a home for vulnerable children, St. Joseph’s Center of Arkansas continues to provide a community for Arkansans hoping to learn from the world around them and live off the land. While the social landscape and culture surrounding the building’s origins have changed, one thing has not: many folks can still call St. Joseph’s home.
