The Sarah Murphy Home for Orphan Negro Children

1950. Rockmart, Georgia. c. 1950. Single folded leaf with photographic illustrations. 6” x 8.5”. 4 pp. VG overall, with a folding crease through center and foxing to paper, and one name underlined under photo on rear (Mrs. R.B. Parks, Cedartown, Presbyterian leader” and “Parks” written above photo with line drawn to her).

A rare leaflet issued to raise funds for the construction of a new girls’ dormitory at the Sarah Murphy Home for Orphan Negro Children, which at the time was the only orphanage for African American children in the state of Georgia. The home, which was destroyed by a fire in 1950, was rebuilt in 1953 and in 1961 was acquired by the Women’s Division of the Methodist Church. The committee tasked with raising funds presciently notes that the building is “inadequate for taking proper care of the number of children now in her care, and in our opinion is a serious fire hazard.”

The text prints the history of the home, founded in 1931 by Sarah Murphy, the daughter of freed slaves, when she “opened her home to six orphaned children…After the death of her only child, a daughter, in 1934, Sarah Murphy dedicated herself to the work of caring for orphaned and abandoned children of her race.” The text also discusses the importance of the proposed dormitory and makes an appeal for donations.

Scarce. No copies in commerce or found in OCLC. Item #1237

Price: $700.00