%0 Manuscript %A Almshouse and House of Employment (Philadelphia, Pa.) %G English %T Almshouse records 1767-1768, 1837 %U http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/a/AlmshouseAm3225.html %X Volumes 1 and 2 (1767-1768) contain listings of money and material aid given to the poor, including cash, clothing, legal aid, supplies, and burial and travel expenses. There are also records of people being paid for services, including being a wet nurse, grave digging, midwifery, and helping women with their children to other parts of the country. There are several entries helping women whom the Mayor ordered to other regions in Pennsylvania or other states. Volume 2 is the daybook to Volume 1’s journal. The former was the immediate log for these records, and the information was neatly organized and copied into the journal. Volume 3 (1837) contains a detailed listing of the female patrons of the various sectors of the Almshouse, and a statistics summary comparing the male and female patients and residents. Sectors include the lunatic asylum and the surgical and syphilitic ward. Information on the female patrons include name, age, temperance habits, occupation, health, and probable cause of poverty, including “vicious,” “insanity,” and “increase of family.” Additional remarks on select individuals include “indolent and stupid,” “from prison,” and “melancholy.” Since being born into freedom or slavery is a descriptive category for both male and female patrons, this is likely an account of just the Black patrons of the Almshouse.