This dataset represents admissions and discharges to and from the Philadelphia Almshouse from 1796-1803. This data is informative and contains a wealth of information. More a microcosm of the tie between personal status and economic/life opportunities, this data has a story to tell about the people of Philadelphia in Early America and how certain outcomes for the poor were more likely based on personal status.
The first two slides show the gender makeup of admissions into the almshouse and the most common descriptors used by the admissions clerk. 1803 represents the peak year of admissions for both men and women respectively. Interestingly, children represent in most years either the top or second highest population subset admitted into the almshouse. The seven most common descriptors for those admitted into the almshouse were: Western European, Child, Black, Physically or Mentally Disabled, Pregnant or Widowed, Tradesmen, and Mulatto. Each of those categories represents a handful of subclasses but made sense to be put together. For instance anyone listed as a worker of some kind, whether blacksmith, tailor, cooper or otherwise went into the tradesmen category. The child category combines all groups who had child as an identifier, whether they were black, white or otherwise classified.
From there we move on the discharges from the almshouse. What was the ultimate disposition of those admitted to the almshouse and do the various groups have more common discharge reasons than others? The first group I chose to look at were entered into the almshouse clerk’s descriptor book as Black or as Black with a qualifier such as from France or something similar. This descriptor accounted for 134 of the 1400 people taken into the almshouse. For the Black population of the almshouse, the most common discharge reason given was either “discharged” or “died”. Of the other groups in this data set, death and discharge rated disproportionately higher for the Black population.
Following Black discharges comes Child discharges. The child intake was 281 out of the 1400 taken in from 1796-1803 accounting for 1/5 of the almshouse population. For children, the most common discharge reason was bound, with just a general “discharge” following behind that. Bound indicated a level of servitude, whether it was as a house servant or otherwise and it would be an easy leap in logic to note that this is likely due to the value a child would provide to a household as a servant due to the length of time you would “own” their labor. This time period represented a tumultuous point in race relations within Philadelphia and the North as a whole as slavery had been banned and any slave that spent more than 6 months in Philadelphia had to be granted their release. Children, especially poor ones without parents were viewed as a way to fill in the domestic labor workforce once slavery was outlawed.
Physically or Mentally Disabled people made up 148 out of the 1400 admissions to the almshouse during this time period. By and large, their main two discharge descriptors were a general “discharged” and “eloped”. In terms of the almshouse, eloped meant escaped, or left without permission, which is interesting given that entry into the almshouse was voluntary and often seen as a last resort. The numbers of discharged or eloped are pretty similar for discharges during the data set’s time period, but interestingly only one was bound and only five were sent to the hospital during this time. The majority were either discharged or eloped. The how and the why here isn’t entirely clear, but it would seem that the almshouse was more likely to get rid of the physically or mentally disabled as opposed to helping them rebound.
The final category of admittees are in a category I created titled “Western Europeans.” This group encompasses anyone whose descriptor stated they were from a Western European country and who also did not have the “Black” qualifier. This categories most common discharge descriptor was “discharged.” U surprisingly so as white people from Western European countries would have been afforded more opportunities post life in the almshouse as they fit the societally dictated norm of a productive member of society more so than any of the other identifiers. They couldn’t be exploited quite as easily as children, so they were less attractive as servants that could be bound out of the almshouse. They also would have had better access to jobs and other life necessities than those who had the “black” qualifier, allowing better overall outcomes upon leaving the almshouse.
The data would have been statistically insignificant if I had broken the Pregnant or Widowed Discharge category down by race, but interestingly the majority of those discharges were simple discharges. The total admissions for this group was only 63 out of 1400. Some of them did not have racial qualifiers at all, so it is hard to say how many would have been classified as “Black” or “White.”
This data proved interesting because it showed a correlation between personal status and physical identifiers, and overall outcomes upon discharge from the almshouse. This data could help to backstop a broader socio-economic study of Philadelphia to show how income flowed within society and from where it was generated and how that money sustained day to day life in Early America.
Smith, Billy G., “Almshouse Admissions Philadelhia 1796-1803,” – . 42. Philadelphia, PA: McNeil Center for Early American Studies [distributor], 2020. https://repository.upenn.edu