Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Texas Travis County - Austin - Confederate Women's Home Archival Collections

The facilities then served as a residence for nurses of the nearby Austin State Hospital and later as an annex for the State School for the Blind. In 1970, the vacant part of the original building became the headquarters for various local charitable groups assisting elderly citizens. The Home was run on donations until 1891 when the State of Texas assumed control. The campus was located at 1600 West Sixth Street in Austin’s Clarksville neighborhood.

confederate women's home austin texas

During its first two years of operation under the Hood Camp, 113 veterans were admitted to the home, and from 1887 to 1953 more than 2,000 former Confederates were housed in the facility. In 1929 there were 312 residents, but by 1936 the number had dropped to eighty. As more of the veterans died, the number of residents continued to decrease; there were thirty-eight in 1938. Thomas Riddle, the last veteran, died in 1954 at the age of 108.

The Confederate Women’s Home’s Last Years

Investigators have even spent the night inside the historic building, eager to find evidence of paranormal activity. We need your support because we are a non-profit organization that relies upon contributions from our community in order to record and preserve the history of our state. This is carefully crafted to as a public statement, yet they still include phrases like "truthful history" and "worthy Confederates," so there is no mistaking what they really feel about the Confederacy. It tells the story of the building in a way that paints the United Daughters of the Confederacy as do gooders instead of the neo-confederate hate group they are. I am in no way opposed to having the history of the building in my neighborhood but glorifying the UDC in Austin in 2020 is unacceptable. “Our founders — who were well-respected community leaders — bought the empty building from the state of Texas in 1986, and reclaimed the property as a place of charity for the community,” he said.

(approx. 0.4 miles away); Stanley and Emily Finch House (approx. 0.4 miles away); Elvira T. Manor Davis House (approx. 0.4 miles away). Join Ghost City Tours as we explore the haunted streets of Austin. Realizing they needed to recognize more diverse causes, they began to extend the AGE family. Soon they became a launching pad for nonprofits, at times housing as many as twenty-five emerging organizations at once. Only three women were living within the home less than a decade later. With no easy solution, the Confederate Women’s Home relocated the remaining women before closing their doors.

Is The Confederate Women’s Home Haunted?

Watson had already designed buildings at both Texas A&M and Baylor University, the courthouses of Travis, Comanche and Milam Counties, and the First Congregational Church of Austin. In 1903, the United Daughters of the Confederacy officially founded the Wives and Widows Home Committee. They were able to purchase the property three years later, quickly hiring architect Arthur O. Watson for the building’s design. Many of the women who spent their final days in the Confederate Women’s Home became test subjects for experimental procedures.

confederate women's home austin texas

That statement starts with “AGE of Central Texas cannot stand silent in the wake of recent and continuing events indicating how far we, as a nation, still have to go in the pursuit of racial equality. In 1986, the vacant structure was purchased by AGE of Central Texas, a nonprofit organization that provides services for older adults and caregivers. Morbidly, due to the number of female residents with infirmities, both a hospital and morgue were also added to the property. Tucked away in North University, a neighborhood that sits between the University of Texas campus and Hyde Park, is a house with a historic — and haunted — past. If you would like to learn more join the original Galveston Ghost Tour click here Once referred to as the Playground of the Southwest, this 226-room hotel conjures images of Galveston’s gilded...

Texas Confederate Woman's Home Historical

But the Daughters couldn’t keep up with the costs and transferred the home to the state in 1911 for $1. It provided care for about 3,400 women prior to its closing in 1963 when the last three residents were moved to private nursing homes. In the early 20th century, the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy raised $12,000 and built a home for those women. The Texas Confederate Woman’s Home opened in 1908 on Austin’s Cedar Street and was available to women over age 60 who were wives or widows of honorably discharged Confederate soldiers. The first Confederate veteran to be interred here was a man named Sam Everett. One of the largest tasks facing the Cemetery Research Department is to put a story behind the names of all of the Confederate veterans buried here.

confederate women's home austin texas

Throughout its existence, more than 2,000 indigent or disabled veterans stayed in the home. Many of those veterans are buried here at the Texas State Cemetery. We have more than 2,200 Confederates and their spouses buried in the southeast corner of the Cemetery. Confederate Field, with its nearly uniform appearance of small rectangular headstones, is probably the most iconic image of the State Cemetery. To learn more about the former occupants of the home, pick up Haunted Austin or head to the Oakwood Cemetery (Austin's first cemetery, originally named City Cemetery) on October 26.

The Home consisted of a large administration building, a hospital, living quarters and private cottages; by all accounts it was a pleasant place to live out your final years. The private cottages were used by married couples for the most part. When a married veteran died, their wives were usually sent to the Confederate Woman’s Home in North Austin.

After two years of planning and construction, the organization opened its doors to Austin’s widows and wives. Anyone who had married a Confederate Soldier was welcome within the Confederate Women’s Home. It was only after he and Maria met up at their truck that he was able to recover his phone. He was shocked to find that his camera had captured something he hadn’t seen himself. Outside of the elevator, the image revealed a mysterious white mist. Our daughter went to day-care there for a while, about 30 years ago.

By act of the Forty-eighth Legislature, "senile" mental patients from other state institutions were transferred to the Confederate Home. After 1939 disabled veterans of the Spanish American War and World War I, as well as their spouses, were admitted. In 1963 the remaining patients were sent to Kerrville State Hospital, and the Austin facility was transferred to the Austin State Hospital as an annex. The buildings on Sixth Street were razed in 1970 to make room for University of Texas married students' housing. Applicants were required to be 60 years of age or older, physically unable to live by themselves, and without adequate financial resources.

Eastside Memorial High is located on the campus of the former Johnston High School, at 1012 Arthur Stiles. (Johnston itself closed in 2008.) Also has a statue on UT's campus, and a large monument and sculpture at the Texas State Cemetery. U.S. rep. from Texas who resigned from the House when Texas seceded, and joined Jefferson Davis' cabinet as Postmaster General. Denounced by Texans for encouraging cooperation with the Union after the Civil War . Also the namesake of a state office building , and one of three enshrined with a statue on UT's campus.

The complex on twenty-six acres of land on West Sixth Street had several buildings, including the large administration building and living quarters, a brick hospital, and private cottages. On January 1, 1920, the legislature established the Board of Control, abolished the board of managers for the Confederate Home, and transferred the responsibility of appointing a superintendent to the new agency. In 1949 the Fifty-first Legislature transferred control and management of the Confederate Home to the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools. However, the Board of Control continued to handle purchases for the institution. The Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools administered the home until it was closed.

confederate women's home austin texas

From 1920 until 1935, the building housed as many as 110 women. Rather, the fact that this monument exists to paint a pro-confederate and white supremacist organization in a positive light is the issue. There were still confederate widows living there when my parents were at UT, but not very many.

Confederate Plaques & Monuments

It is,as the name says, a memorial to the Texas Confederate Women's Home and all the widows and daughters of the Confederacy. The Home continued to be used even after the last Confederate veteran, a Thomas Riddle, died in 1953. Veterans from World War I and the Spanish American War stayed there until the Home closed in 1961. It was given to the University of Texas in 1971 and is married student housing still today.

confederate women's home austin texas

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