Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools, Annual Reports of the Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools and the Superintendent of the Soldiers' Orphan School Department, 1878 Continued-1885, This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER LIBRARY: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education., Arranged chronologically by year, and thereunder by category or school. Annual reports relating to Soldiers' Orphan Schools and their locations with regard to students, teachers, finance, education, and inspection of facilities and operations. Established after the Civil War to care for and educate children orphaned by the war, the orphans' schools eventually numbered twenty-three primary and fifteen advanced schools as the legislature expanded eligibility. From 1870-1889, the reports were created by the Superintendent of Soldiers' Orphans of the Soldiers' Orphan School Department and addressed to the Governor of Pennsylvania. Includes lists of orphans leaving the school and students who died in the school, some records of the Scotland School, and miscellaneous items. When the Commission of Soldiers' Orphan Schools replaced the Soldiers' Orphan School Department in 1889, the reports were addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania. The reports are generally consistent, providing annual statistical tables usually exhibiting orders issued, student admissions, discharges, deaths, transfers, parentage, punishments, school population (student and teachers), list of sixteeners, and educational status. Often pictures of school buildings and students accompany the reports. Also included are inspection reports summarizing the quality of facilities, clothing, and teaching. In addition, there are principal reports discussing the general condition of the school's morality, religion, education, and facilities. For the year 1886, only the inspection report is available.
