Established in 1864/1865, the Illinois' Soldiers' Orphans' Home (later renamed ISSCS) was a state-run orphanage in north Normal. In the early 1930s, a cluster of Norman-style cottages (known as the Children's Village) went up on the south end of the ISSCS campus. The cottages were named for the famous and not-so famous, such as Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman; Red Cross organizer Jane Delano; and Betsy Ross, credited (according to legend) with making the first American flag. Although ISSCS closed down in the late 1970s, the cottages are still there, and some were later repurposed to house small businesses or Illinois State University offices. This photograph of Betsy Ross residents enjoying dinner comes from the Museum's ISSCS Collection. The children and caregiver pictured here are unidentified. If anyone looks familiar, please give Museum Librarian Bill Kemp a call at 309-827-0428.
Torii Moré
Curator of Digital Humanities