Age Group:
Adults
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Program Description
Event Details
Friends Present:
Long before the advent of modern social welfare, county governments in Michigan maintained poorhouses or poor farms. Explore the early history of these facilities in their attempts to care for Michigan’s poor, elderly and destitute. Discover the lives and records of the inmates that resided at our state’s poor farms.
Adam Oster from the Library of Michigan will cover the early poor laws of the Michigan territory, the introduction of poorhouses/poor farms in Michigan, the organizational structure, what led to their demise/replacement, showcase examples of poor farms across the state, and the records used for researching a poor farm inmate.
Refreshments will be served.