Identified! PA - Philadelphia - 'Boy in the Box' - 4UMPA - Feb'57 - Joseph Augustus Zarelli #4

[Friday Fan]

Has the House of the Good Shepherd School been discussed on the thread already? TIA!

Yes, it was a home for wayward, troubled girls.
Girls did not give birth there.
They don't believe there is a connection
__________________
There was a foster home 1.5 miles away, which was looked at extensively.
However, I'm sure they're looking at it again. The foster home is no longer in existence. The owners have long died. A detective felt the boy may have been from there.
However, now that we have a name, (JAZ) maybe they can make some headway.
MOO: I always thought this was a good lead. There were some wacky conspiracy theories about the proprietors, however those were just that. (Such as one of the foster parents was the child's parent..or something. I believe DNA ruled it out) Nevertheless, any foster home always deserves a second look.

 

[Laughing]

Has the House of the Good Shepherd School been discussed on the thread already? TIA!

Yes. @Friday Fan beat me too it, but the post didn't show!

 

[RaspberryMama]

Has the House of the Good Shepherd School been discussed on the thread already? TIA!

Yes. Just search "girls school" in the thread. I don't think the full name has been used much.

It seems it was a home for "wayward girls." Those on their way to juvenile delinquency and a life of crime and every sort of sin.
(Moo)
The pressure to conform to "good girl" standards had to be unbearable at times. Even just in regards to being a woman who is ultra-feminine because she loves to do housework, not to mention keeping hormones in check. (MOO again)

I read an editorial from a man in the 40's who thought it would be a good idea to give high school girls more life skills classes and take away some of the maths and sciences.


Anyway, it was a school. It wasn't a home for unwed mothers.

 

[osadelnorte]

There was also the fact that the daughter of the school's owners had lost a child in a tragic way, IIRC. He was electrocuted by one of those rides for kids outside a supermarket or something like that. I remember long ago some speculation that the death of that child could somehow be related to Joseph's death, I guess just that a child in their care had already died and that could mean that they were negligent with other kids. But I doubt they ever had anything to do with Joseph.

 

[RaspberryMama]

There was also the fact that the daughter of the school's owners had lost a child in a tragic way, IIRC. He was electrocuted by one of those rides for kids outside a supermarket or something like that. I remember long ago some speculation that the death of that child could somehow be related to Joseph's death, I guess just that a child in their care had already died and that could mean that they were negligent with other kids. But I doubt they ever had anything to do with Joseph.

Was that the foster home with the stepdaughter that later married her stepfather?

 

[osadelnorte]

Was that the foster home with the stepdaughter that later married her stepfather?

I think so. Maybe the daughter was at the foster home, not the school. Clearly there were some troubling aspects they wanted to look into.

 

[Friday Fan]

Was that the foster home with the stepdaughter that later married her stepfather?

Yes, that was the foster home that was investigated and it is not connected to the girls' school!
(Two different unconnected facilities)

Yes, and that weird marriage thing and speculated that someone was Joseph's parent. However, I believe mtDNA proved that there wasn't a connection to Joseph.

 

[Daphne1972]

Was that the foster home with the stepdaughter that later married her stepfather?

Yes

 

[osadelnorte]

Yes, that was the foster home that was investigated and it is not connected to the girls' school!

I think you're right. I had them mixed up. Either way, I remember that there was mention of a child who had died and that was looked into.

 

[Daphne1972]

Where can I find a statement from the house of the Good Shepherd school  itself regarding its mission? One from the 50s.

 

[Daphne1972]

Similar place like the house of the Good Shepherd.....

These Religious Prisons Turned Orphans, Young Girls, and Pregnant Women into Slaves Inside Convent Walls - History Collection

Not that long ago, girls and women who defied societal norms were forced into convents and reform institutions. "Do-gooders" established homes in Australia, Europe, and North America to forcibly reform girls and women who simply did not adhere to the rules of polite society. Pregnant and...

historycollection.com

Sickening. These girls were inmates!

 

[Laughing]

Similar place like the house of the Good Shepherd.....

These Religious Prisons Turned Orphans, Young Girls, and Pregnant Women into Slaves Inside Convent Walls - History Collection

Not that long ago, girls and women who defied societal norms were forced into convents and reform institutions. "Do-gooders" established homes in Australia, Europe, and North America to forcibly reform girls and women who simply did not adhere to the rules of polite society. Pregnant and...

historycollection.com

Sickening. These girls were inmates!

We do NOT know that the home near Philadelphia was similar.

 

[Daphne1972]

We do NOT know that the home near Philadelphia was similar.

Do you have their mission statement? I'm still looking for it.

 

[Daphne1972]

I found a scholarly work on the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Not their own mission statement but it will do. The file is too big.

 

[RaspberryMama]

I found an article in the Catholic news archives. Not exactly a mission statement but does describe the purpose.

The Catholic Standard and Times 1 May 1959 — The Catholic News Archive

The Catholic News Archive

thecatholicnewsarchive.org

 

[Friday Fan]

I found an article in the Catholic news archives. Not exactly a mission statement but does describe the purpose.

The Catholic Standard and Times 1 May 1959 — The Catholic News Archive

The Catholic News Archive

thecatholicnewsarchive.org

I found that too! It's the school in Fox Chase! Named after a Native-American saint Kateri Tekakwitha.

I assume by the 1950's these were "segregated schools" for at risk youth/juvenile offenders of sorts. Students were not making it in regular school and likely had minor juvenile records. Their presence was likely a disruption in public school, frequently truant, maybe engaged in fighting, running away and maybe other offenses, so they were sent by the municipal courts.

​

 

[RaspberryMama]

I just ran across something interesting in relation to a past topic on this thread: can a birth mother choose the name for her child without the father's knowledge?

Surname Alternatives in Pennsylvania

By M. Hannah Leavitt, Published on 10/01/77

ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu

Surname Alternatives for Legitimate Children
A. Parental Agreement
According to regulations issued by the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the parents of a child born
in wedlock have the right to give their child any
name they choose.
Thus, a child's surname as recorded on its birth certificate may be the surname of either or both of the child's parents, a surname formed by combining the surname of the parents in
hyphenated or other form, or a name which bears no relationship to the surname of
either parent.

Surname Alternatives for Illegitimate Children
Regulations promulgated by the Bureau of Vital Statistics give the mother of an
illegitimate child the exclusive right to name it. The passage of the ERA, however, has left the validity of this regulation in serious doubt. In a recent case, Adoption of Walker, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that "[t]he only differences between unwed fathers
and unwed mothers are those based on sex" and held that the adoption of an illegitimate child requires the consent of the father in addition to that of the mother. This reasoning indicates that
the mother of an illegitimate child has no rights or privileges relating to her child that are not shared by its father, including the right to name the child. Thus, an unwed father should be able to enjoin the use of the name the mother has given the child if he disagrees with her choice. Such parental disagreement should be resolved in the same way as it would be if the parents were married.

When a married woman gives birth to an illegitimate child, she may
desire to register it with the surname of its natural father. Normally the mother would be denied this option under the rule that neither husband nor wife may deny the legitimacy of a child born to a married woman.
In some circumstances, however, the illegitimate child of a married woman can be given the name of the natural father on its birth certificate.
This procedure is permissible only when (1) the mother acknowledges the natural father, (2) the natural father acknowledges the child, and (3) the mother's husband gives his permission.

 

[Friday Fan]

I just ran across something interesting in relation to a past topic on this thread: can a birth mother choose the name for her child without the father's knowledge?

Surname Alternatives in Pennsylvania

By M. Hannah Leavitt, Published on 10/01/77

ideas.dickinsonlaw.psu.edu

I was born in PA in 1956. My birth certificate doesn't seem to require this.


As to whether I was legitimate or illegitimate, it's checked on a section entitled "For medical and health use only" along with questions about birthweight, syphilis and prenatal care.

I don't think it was a "legal" issue at the time, hence I believe she could choose his name.

FWI: Legitimacy as a legal issue. It was brought up in 1827 by the children of my 3ggf. He sired 24 children out of wedlock and there was an inheritance issue. They all carried his name. There were no birth certificates back then. His son was a state senator and filed a bill to get everyone legitimized so they could inherit. However, I believe he knew of everyone of the kids. He just didn't want to get married.

 

[RaspberryMama]

I was born in PA in 1956. My birth certificate doesn't seem to require this.


As to whether I was legitimate or illegitimate, it's checked on a section entitled "For medical and health use only" along with questions about birthweight, syphilis and prenatal care.

I don't think it was a "legal" issue at the time, hence I believe she could choose his name.

FWI: Legitimacy as a legal issue. It was brought up in 1827 by the children of my 3ggf. He sired 24 children out of wedlock and there was an inheritance issue. They all carried his name. There were no birth certificates back then. His son was a state senator and filed a bill to get everyone legitimized so they could inherit. However, I believe he knew of everyone of the kids. He just didn't want to get married.

Yeah, it really didn't seem like a clear ruling either way. I forgot to say that was from 1941.

Omg, 24 kids is a LOT of kids. I assume there were several babymamas? He probably couldn't decide which one to commit to. What a legacy to have!

 

[Laughing]

Yeah, it really didn't seem like a clear ruling either way. I forgot to say that was from 1941.

Omg, 24 kids is a LOT of kids. I assume there were several babymamas? He probably couldn't decide which one to commit to. What a legacy to have!

Nightmare of genealogists trying to track down every cousin.

One of Mr. Laughing's great-grandfathers was (supposedly) married eleven times. Now there are more than 11 kids total, and there are 2 wives who apparently died in childbirth -- graves with both names on the headstones -- but I'd sure charge plenty to track 24 lines!