ST. CLARA'S ORPHANAGE

Mom attended Saint Clara's Orphanage in Denver.  Here are a couple of photographs of kids who attended the school in 1936.  Mom would have been 16, and the kids in those pictures look much younger.  I don't know the year that Mom left the orphanage.  Here is a 1940s picture of St. Clara's. 

Here is a collection of Getty Images of Saint Clara's Orphanage through the years.  The following picture is from a postcard but the listing does not provide the date.  Grrr.

The orphanage was located at 3800 West 29th Avenue in Denver in an area known as West Highland, located west of Federal Blvd. and, of course, west of Interstate 25.  The neighborhood was quite elegant.  Lots of brick-style, turn-of-the-century homes still standing there and throughout the Denver area.  Loved that area.  

This is a terrific photo of an air force soldier visiting with boys from St. Clara's Orphanage.  And that makes perfect sense that an Air Force soldier would visit the kids in Denver, given the fact that the Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, CO., 75 miles or 72 minutes south of Denver.

Below is another shot of St. Clara's Orphanage from Getty Images.  

The caption reads 

JUL 13 1967 St.Clara's Orphanage, which was founded and Built in 1890, will be shut down Jan 1 by Authorities. The 51 children now living in the building will be placed individually in new homes in the Denver area. Credit: Denver Post (Denver Post via Getty Images)

St. Clara's Orphanage, Denver, a home to some 10,000 children since it's origin in 1890, will be discontinued effective January 1, 1968.  Joint announcement of the closing was made Thursday, July 13th by Mother M. Dolorine, Provincial of the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters who operate the home.  The Right Reverend Monsignor Elmer J. Kolka, Director of Catholic Charities, and Roy I. Mason, Mile High United Way President.  The orphanage has been affiliated with United Way and is predecessor organizations for 45 years.  Monsignor Kolka said that appropriate planning will be made for the individual replacement of each of the 51 children, now in the orphanage.

"THE UTMOST concern and solicitude will be extended so that every child from the home will be adequately considered and cared for in the future." Monsignor Kolka said "Child care is one of the greatest functions of Catholic Charities, and St. Clara's became affiliated with the Catholic Charities in 1928."

The structure at 3800 West 29th Avenue, which presently houses the children, was built in 1908 the original orphanage was located at 10th and Champa Streets where the same group of sisters now operate St. Rose's residence a home for working girls children were admitted to the original orphanage on 10th Street on Christmas Eve 1890  Mother Dolorine said the decision to close was made when she and her board attempted to plan for the sister personnel of the order.

Here on Page 11, you'll find an interesting history of how St. Clara's Orphanage became so. 

SEP 22 1962, SEP 23 1962; Saint Clara's Orphanage; Denver -Boulder Orphans *****; In the driver's seat of a Lowry Field T-Bird--a T33 jet trainer plane--is John Weiss, 10, of St. Clara's Orphanage. Behind him, left to right, are Airman Second Class Homer Jackson, Danny Miller, 12, and Ansell Torrez, 10. 200 Denver-Boulder orphans got a tour. The youngsters watched a fire-fighting demonstration, saw an action-filled motion picture and enjoyed an especially elaborate luncheon with officers in the mess hall.;

Well, Mom was long gone from St. Clara's by 1954, but I thought that these photos from St. Regis nearby might be kind of interesting for nostalgia watchers.