Friday, November 6, 2009

St. Paul's Orphan Asylum

So, as many of you know, my mom was unceremoniously "orphaned" upon the death of her mom in 1938. Grandpa dropped her and her 4 siblings off at an orphanage.

Anyhoo, I have a number of photos of the orphanage, and I occasionally get requests from former... orphanage dwellers (?!) and other interested parties who want to see them. (There are a ton available thru the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh -- you can request info from specific time frames, locations, etc. -- but it's not free.) It occurred to me, what the heck?! I should totally do a blog post and make these photos searchable for people. (For the record, I do not know the identities of any of the people in these photos.)

The internet has allowed me to connect with others who had family at this institution, and also to connect with relatives I didn't know I had. Now it allows me to share what I've learned with others.

Pretty awesome.









12 comments:

Unknown said...

Does anyone know anything about T.B. Doyle, a prefect at St. Paul's who knew Babe Ruth from St. Mary's Industrial School in Baltimore? I am looking for info for a Ruth biography and a visit he paid to St. Paul's in 1921. Many thanks, Jane Leavy

Unknown said...

Does anyone know anything about T.B. and his relationship with Babe Ruth?

Unknown said...

The 2007 biography on Babe Ruth called "The Big Bam" by Leigh Montville describes this visit. The author appears to have done an excellent job researching every aspect of Babe Ruth. Perhaps you could reach out to Mr. Montville. I'm sure he is available on twitter or facebook.

Unknown said...

my father and uncle were orphans at st. paul's orphanage in crafton pa. I remember my dad telling me that babe ruth used to visit the orphanage and would play baseball with the other kids. that's all i know about the babe. thank you. paul

Unknown said...

Hi there,my mother was an orphan from a woman named Zita Flaitz (her mom). And my mom is still with us today thank God. She really wants photos of the kids and nuns. She too was dropped off with her brother when they were about three years old. I am thankful to see this. She has cried because she really wants to see photos before they tore it down. She knows others from there as a child. This will mean a lot to her. She had a twin sister but never found. She found four of her siblings. My moms name Sherien Flaitz and when she became adopted later on she was named Sharon Natition and lived. Her brother was Michael John Natition. Her adopted dad was Natition and they lived on 820 west Bury rd. Versailles Mckeesport PA.. She had two evil step mothers first one died and the other might be alive. My mother helped build the house on Bury with little jobs. Now the house is up for sale by Zillow and my mom said that house is rightfully hers. She and her brother and dad had that house before her dad even met any woman. He was a Navy war vet. My mom is still up and running and smart. If you have more pictures of the orphanage and nuns please call me at 443-916-1705 , irelandsheart57@gmail.com call anytime. Thank you and God Bless. Angel.

Unknown said...

My mom was at St. Paul's orphanage in Pittsburgh. .....Angel.

Unknown said...

My Great Great Aunt, Sister Madeleine, was Bursar at St Pauls Orphanage around the year 1897, I would be grateful for any information about the orphanage, books, articles etc. that might help with my family history

Anonymous said...

My Mom and her three siblings were at St. Paul's Orphanage from, I believe, from 1936 until roughly 1944. If anyone can supply additional information or photographs of the orphanage prior to becoming the seminary, I would greatly appreciate. I did visit the grounds with my Mom many years ago, not realizing the change had occurred. My Mother and my best friend passed peacefull on January of 2016. She was my best friend and I will miss her forever. God bless us all.

Joann Cantrell said...

I am an author working on a book "Pittsburgh's Orphans and Orphanages" due to be published in 2022 and in search of old photographs of former orphans, orphanages, or life depicted at the time (late 1880s - mid 1950s).
joann.cantrell@gmail.com

Yogamom said...

Hi Joann. Is your book available?

Unknown said...

Who was your mother? My mother had a sister named Jeannie and she was an identical twin. People would always calling my mother Jeannie and swore that my mother was playing some kind of joke on them. We knew she must of grown up in the same neighborhood and school. It's sad really. Mu email is irelandsheart57@gmail.com
You can contact me and my name is Angela. Then I'll give you my number. This is amazing to find you and the pictures. Thank you so much. I can tell you lots more. God Bless you and your beautiful family.πŸ™πŸΌπŸ˜Š

Unknown said...

My mother and her brother were put there because their mom had an alcohol problem and wasn't taking care of them. They were little maybe nearly three years old. They were told to go play with the other children on the playground and left there. They were both on the swings way after the children went inside. A sweet nun seen yhem and ran out to get them. Then they waited for someone to come for them and no one ever did. That was the first time they ever had spaghetti and that was the first meal that they can remember and their favorite. Sadly my uncle passed away. My mother is still with us thank God. She now lives in Baltimore Maryland. There was one nun who absolutely loved my mom and her brother so much. She was Sister Claudia. My mother had many siblings that she found later. My email is irelandsheart57@gmail.com
You can email me there and I can get lots of information from my mother for uour book. Sje has been looking for her dear friends that she knew from their. It would be great if I could just find one alive for her. My name is Angela. My moms name is Sharon Flaitze. I can tell you more. God BlessπŸ™πŸΌπŸ˜Š