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Portrait of Sarah Ralston, founder of the Orphan Society of Philadelphia

This month’s featured item is a portrait of Sarah Ralston, founde of the Orphan Society of Philadelphia, an organization whose history is now preserved in the Elwyn Archives.

In the early 19th century, rapid urbanization in Philadelphia placed increasing strain on the city’s ability to care for orphaned and abandoned children. In March 1814, Ralston joined a group of women to establish the Orphan Society of Philadelphia, the city’s first nonsectarian orphanage. The Society’s mission extended beyond providing shelter, emphasizing education and other forms of support intended to help young people build successful lives after reaching legal age.

More than 150 years later, in 1965, the Orphan Society of Philadelphia merged with Elwyn. Today, Elwyn is the steward of the Society’s historic records, preserving the story of an organization that, like Elwyn, sought to expand opportunity and improve the lives of people in need.