The City Infirmary was established in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1855 to house and assist the poor, aged, mentally ill, and handicapped. The State of Ohio authorized county governments to build and administer poorhouses and infirmaries to provide long-term care for the poor and homeless in 1816. Cuyahoga County was the only county that did not establish a poorhouse, so Cleveland built a combined poorhouse/infirmary in 1827 behind Erie Street Cemetery that accepted referrals from throughout the county. As the population of Cleveland expanded rapidly, its City Council voted in 1849 for a tax levy to pay for a separate workhouse and infirmary. In 1855 the new City Infirmary was built on the site of the current Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital. A few years later, Cleveland was experiencing the consequences of a national economic panic which included an influx of "inmates" to the City Infirmary that included newborn babies, the elderly, and the infirm.
Immediately after the American Civil War, Ohio changed its infirmary law to require the election of infirmary directors and boards, thus injecting politics into the management of the City Infirmary. Cleveland's population doubled between 1860-1870, its economy rapidly industrialized, and its immigrant population increased dramatically. The City Infirmary cared for the poorest, most vulnerable citizens of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County during this era, including destitute individuals and families, the mentally ill, the aged, children too young to be apprenticed, alcoholics, and those suffering from mental and physical disabilities.
During the 1870s, Cleveland was again mired in an economic panic that did not begin to ease until 1878. The City Infirmary again experienced a flood of impoverished and ill individuals and families seeking aid. Increasingly, those seeking help at the City Infirmary were recent immigrants to the United States, including Germans, Irish, and Eastern Europeans.
At the turn of the century, the City Infirmary was transformed into Cooley Farms which became a national model for service delivery and rehabilitation.
The City Infirmary, Cleveland, Ohio, Records, 1867-1876, consist of one intake ledger.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the history of Cleveland, Ohio, in the immediate post-Civil War era. Those studying the transformation of urban hospitals from social service providers for the poor to institutions providing quality medical care to the community at large will find this collection useful. Those studying issues of poverty, unemployment, homelessness, abandoned and orphaned children, unwed motherhood, venereal disease, prostitution, alcoholism, mental illness, industrial accidents, domestic violence, physical disabilities, old age, and developmental disabilities in the mid-nineteenth century will find this collection useful. The ledger documents the social and economic consequences of Cleveland's rapid industrialization and the influx of immigrants and migrants that resulted in the 1860s and 1870s. This ledger includes the names and ages of each admitted person (referred to as "paupers" instead of "patients"), occupational/social status, ethnic background, the initial diagnosis or reason for admittance to the infirmary, and the final outcome of the individuals admitted. Genealogists will find this collection useful since many of the patients at the infirmary were transient and difficult to count in the United States Census. At times, the family or institutional placement of orphans, abandoned children, and babies born out of wedlock is indicated in the ledger. Those seeking demographic information on the poorest citizens of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County from 1867-1876 will find this collection useful.
The collection is arranged chronologically and is maintained in one volume.
The researcher should also consult MS 1298 Mahoning County Infirmary Records and MS 3681 Cleveland Workhouse and House of Refuge and Correction Records.
MS 3681 Cleveland Workhouse and House of Refuge and Correction Records contains the register for the City Infirmary, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1855-1867 that immediately precedes the volume in this collection (microfilm Roll 1, Volume 2).
Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 2012.
Indexed by Rosemary Cooper in 2014.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5134 City Infirmary, Cleveland, Ohio, Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the estate of Bill and Margaret Gant via John Berry in 2012.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.