Aschaffenburg Family

Although the average length of stay was 7 years, some children lived in the Home only a short time, sufficient to enable struggling parents to regain stability. Although the precise circumstances are unknown, in April 1887 the board approved the application of Emile and Theresa Guggenheim Aschaffenburg to “temporarily admit” their five youngest children – Louise (15), Henry (13), Mathilda (8), Isidore (7), and Leo (2) – perhaps to relieve the family during a period of transition or hardship. 

In January 1888, the children returned to their parents. The nine-month stay, although otherwise unremarkable, was long enough for the children to live in the Home’s two locations: they were admitted to the orphanage when it was still on Jackson Avenue and were discharged from the Home just four months after it relocated to St. Charles Avenue.