Hill’s 1918 history describes Frederick F. Brewster’s land gift in Whitneyville, a $250,000 building fund and construction delayed by wartime conditions. It documents a plan preceding the institution’s actual 1925 move to Hamden.
Evidence, credit & reuse: Public domain in the United States: published in 1918. Verified printed page 261; Internet Archive leaf 367. This is evidence of planning, not proof the Hamden campus opened in 1916 or 1918. Append to existing collection new-haven-orphanage; retain existing NH-001–NH-010.
Source: Everett G. Hill, A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, vol. 1 (1918), p. 261; Internet Archive scan
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Selected reading of page 261; editorial summary, not a complete transcription. Hill identifies the New Haven Female Society for the Relief of Orphans, Half-Orphans and Destitute Children and emphasizes its women organizers and managers. He recalls Grove Street, the move to Oak Street five years after 1833, and the Elm Street buildings. The account says Frederick F. Brewster gave a large tract in Whitneyville in 1916 and a substantial initial contribution toward a $250,000 new-building fund. As of publication in 1918, war conditions had delayed the buildings. Source caution: the printed page calls Frederick F. Brewster James Brewster’s son. This kinship statement has not been adopted in the archive narrative. The page also discusses St. Francis, the Home for the Friendless and Florence Crittenton separately; they must not be merged with the New Haven Orphan Asylum.
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Silent Grounds Collective, New Haven Orphan Asylum / Children’s Center of Hamden, SGC-NH-006, NH-011, “The 1916 Whitneyville land gift and delayed building plan.” Source: Everett G. Hill, A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County, vol. 1 (1918), p. 261; Internet Archive scan. https://archive.org/details/modernhistoryofn01hill/page/261/mode/1up. Research edition, accessed 2026-09-08.