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In 1909 the Board of Administration succeeded to the executive and administrative responsibilities formerly exercised by the trustees of all state charitable institutions (L. 1909, p. 102). In addition to appointing the managing officers of all state charitable institutions the new full-time five-member board was required to visit and inspect each institution under its jurisdiction. After investigating the treatment given to inmates and examining physical facilities and records, visiting board members made a report on institutional conditions at the next board meeting. The Board of Administration cooperated and consulted with the new Charities Commission which assumed the functions of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities and which had concurrent investigative authority for the whole system of public charitable institutions in the state (L. 1909, p. 110). The Charities Commission was made up of five members appointed by the Governor. They served without compensation with only their travel expenses being reimbursed.
The Board of Administration also exercised a wide range of powers in the area of social welfare, such as the authority to investigate, inspect, and license institutions and facilities in which individuals were treated for nervous or mental diseases; to examine institutions which cared for dependent, neglected, or delinquent children; to visit children placed in family houses; to certify home-finding associations; and to inspect and investigate correctional institutions in order to collect statistics and gather information on the treatment of the insane.
The Board of Joint Estimate, composed of the Board of Administration's fiscal supervisor and the managing officers of the charitable institutions, was established within the Board of Administration to provide for the purchase of large quantities of institutional supplies. Approval of bids and emergency purchases were handled by the three-member Purchasing Committee of the Board of Joint Estimate.
In 1917 the Board of Administration was abolished and its responsibilities were transferred to the Department of Public Welfare (L. 1917, p. 2). The following institutions were under the jurisdiction of the Board of Administration:
Alton State Hospital
Anna State Hospital
Chester State Hospital
Chicago State Hospital
Elgin State Hospital
Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary at Chicago
Illinois Industrial Home for the Blind at Chicago
Illinois School for the Blind at Jacksonville
Illinois School for the Deaf at Jacksonville
Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Quincy
Illinois Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Normal
Illinois Soldiers' Widows' Home at Wilmington
Illinois State Colony for Epileptics
Illinois State Psychopathic Institute at Chicago
Illinois State Training School for Girls at Geneva
Illinois Surgical Institute for Crippled Children
Jacksonville State Hospital
Kankakee State Hospital
Lincoln State School and Colony
Peoria State Hospital
St. Charles School for Boys
Watertown State Hospital
See also BOARD OF MENTAL HEALTH COMMISSIONERS, RG 306.000.
351.001
PROCEEDINGS OF BOARD MEETINGS. August 1909-June 1917. 7 vols. and 1 partial vol. Index, 6 vols.
Proceedings are of regular monthly board meetings and frequent daily meetings. Board meetings usually concern plans to visit and inspect institutions, the approval of institutional expenditures, rules and regulations for the operation of institutions, bids and plans for construction projects, and the transfer, promotion, or dismissal of employees. Also included is a transcript of a 1912 board meeting held to discuss the location of a state hospital for the insane at either the Bowman Tract or the Rodgers Tract in Madison County.
351.002
CORRESPONDENCE. 1915-1916. 0.5 cu. ft. No index.
Board correspondence concerns a wide range of administrative matters including financial arrangements for the supply, maintenance, and repair of various institutions under the board's jurisdiction and the treatment of employees. Occasionally contracts and estimates for supplies and services are included.
351.003
REPORTS OF OFFICIAL VISITS. 1910-1915. 1 vol. No index.
Reports were made by the board's alienist, fiscal supervisor, physician, and various committees after visiting state institutions. Reports primarily deal with the treatment and care of inmates, living conditions, and maintenance of institutional property.
351.004
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF JOINT ESTIMATE AND THE PURCHASING COMMITTEE. 1909-1916. 1 vol. No index.
Proceedings are of meetings held irregularly by the Board of Joint Estimate and by the Purchasing Committee and concern the ordinary and emergency purchase of institutional supplies. Also included is correspondence dealing with purchase orders and arrangements with institutional officers for Board of Joint Estimate meetings.
351.005
COUNTY COMMITMENT PAPERS. 1912-1914. 8 cu. ft. No index.
Certified copies of commitment papers were issued by county courts and were required to be filed with the Board of Administration. Each commitment file includes a copy of jury's or commission's answers to an interrogatory concerning patient's mental condition and a copy of the jury's verdict or commission's report of findings in the case. These forms include patient's name, age, sex, race, marital status, occupation, birthplace, town and county of residence; lengths of residence in the United States and Illinois; residence prior to Illinois; parents' names, birthplaces, and ages at time of death, if dead; description of patient's educational background, including level of literacy; description of any serious diseases or mental illness patient or immediate family has had; assigned cause of insanity and description of current attack; physical and mental condition of patient at time of judicial inquiry; statement of financial ability; names of jurors or commissioners; name of presiding judge and date of hearing; date papers filed with clerk; and occasionally the name of the hospital committed to. Commitment papers from Cook County also include court docket number.
Records of Private Home-Finding Associations
351.006
AMERICAN HOME-FINDING ASSOCIATION APPLICATION REGISTER. 1898-1905. 2 vols. Index.
Register of applications for child placement includes date of application; name, age, and address for child; applicant's age and sex preference in child; applicant's church affiliation; husband's or applicant's occupation; whether or not applicant owns home; name of nearest railroad depot; whether or not applicant will assume transportation costs; name of individual to whom child will be sent; and whether or not placement recommended. If child was placed register contains dated remarks on child's adjustment to home.
351.007
AMERICAN HOME-FINDING ASSOCIATION CHILDREN'S REGISTER. 1898-1905. 2 vols. Index.
Record is of children placed in foster homes. For each child register includes name, sex, age and birth date; name and address of individual releasing custody of child; name and address of individual child placed with; dated notes on child's adjustment to placement; and whether or not child adopted.
These records are available at the Illinois State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State.
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