Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls
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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
File:Berachah Home (Arlington, Tex.) Dedication Service (cropped).jpg
The Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls was a facility for unwed mothers in Arlington, Texas. Rev. James T. and Maggie May Upchurch opened the home on May 14, 1903, and it took in homeless, usually pregnant, women from Texas and the surrounding states. Unlike other homes for "fallen women", women at the Berachah Home were required to keep their babies; no children were placed for adoption. (see, Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 2, Tarrant, Texas; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0112; FHL microfilm: 2342132).
The home closed in 1935 but reopened as an orphanage named the Berachah Child Institute,{{Cite news|title=Timeframes|date=July 13, 2008|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|page=47}} which existed from 1936 to 1942. The University of Texas at Arlington purchased the property in 1963.{{Cite news|url=http://www.theshorthorn.com/news/rumors-suggest-ghostly-girls-haunt-campus/article_4fab289a-3b9a-11e3-817e-001a4bcf6878.html|title=Rumors suggest ghostly girls haunt campus|last=Said|first=Heba|date=October 23, 2013|work=The Shorthorn|access-date=March 20, 2018}} On March 7, 1981, a Texas Historical Marker was installed and dedicated at the graveyard that served the Berachah Home.{{Cite web|url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5439004730|title=Details for Site of Berachah Home and Cemetery|publisher=Texas Historical Commission}}{{Cite web|url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/7439012003|title=Details for Berachah|publisher=Texas Historical Commission}}
History
James T. Upchurch was born on October 29, 1870, in Bosqueville, Texas. While living in Waco, Upchurch joined the Methodist Church and began mission work by conducting religious services in jails and on the streets. In 1892, he married Maggie May Adams, who was born on December 5, 1873, in Jackson, Tennessee; together they pursued their religious work.{{Cite journal|last=Saxon|first=Gerald|date=Fall 1993|title=The Berachah Home: "A Home for the Homeless and a Friend to the Friendless"|url=https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth35115/m1/30/?q=%22Berachah%20Home%22%20Legacies|journal=Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas|volume=5|pages=28}}{{Cite book|title=A Short History of the Berachah Home and Berachah Cemetery|last1=Manion|first1=Lynn|last2=Dolph|first2=Jan|year=1979|location=Arlington, Texas|pages=1}} After encountering a woman in the red-light district of Waco, J. T. Upchurch began to focus his work ministering to these "fallen women".{{Cite news|title=Rev. J.T. Upchurch, 79, Reforms Worker, Dies|date=September 13, 1950|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=19}} In 1894, the couple together founded the Berachah Rescue Society to address this social issue. The name Berachah derives from the Bible: it is found in 2 Chronicles 20:26 ("And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day." —KJV).
In 1899, the Upchurches relocated to the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas and established a small mission. This mission moved from 612 Elm Street to 169 Main Street on October 31, 1899. J. T. Upchurch appealed to Christians in Dallas to help spread the gospel and reach out to "fallen" men and women as well as the city's street children.{{Cite news|title=Berachah Mission Moved|last=Upchurch|first=James T.|date=October 31, 1899|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=10}} At this time, he also began to publish the Purity Journal. Written mostly by Upchurch himself, the journal describes the work being done by the Berachah Rescue Society.
On September 25, 1901, J. T. Upchurch met with Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Cooper of Arlington, Texas, to acquire seven acres of land. The Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls opened on that site on May 14, 1903.{{Cite web|url=https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utarl/00112/arl-00112.html|title=Berachah Home Collection: A Guide|website=legacy.lib.utexas.edu|publisher=University of Texas at Austin|language=en|others=Berachah Home (Arlington, Tex.) Upchurch, J. T. (James Tony), 1870-1950. Upchurch, Maggie Mae, 1873-1963. Cagle, Mary Lee, 1864- --Life and work of Mary Lee Cagle. Berachah Society (Dallas, Tex.)|access-date=February 15, 2018}} The home's charter stated its purpose was to provide a space for "redemption and support", as well as a place in which to educate and train "erring girls".{{Cite news|title=Charter Filed|date=November 24, 1903|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=6}} In addition to the home, other structures erected on the property included a chapel, handkerchief factory, infirmary, print shop, and school.{{Cite web|url=https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/Details/5439004730/print|title=Details for Site of Berachah Home and Cemetery|date=1981|website=Historical Marker — Atlas|publisher=Texas Historical Commission|access-date=February 15, 2018}} Also established was a cemetery that contains the remains of young mothers who died during childbirth, stillborn babies, and former residents of the home who died during the measles epidemic.{{Cite news|title=Unwed mothers found a home|last=Fisher|first=Binnie|date=February 22, 1981|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|page=10A}} Eunice Williams was the first girl from the home to be buried in the cemetery in 1904.
The Berachah Home, which operated just outside of the city limits, offered young women an opportunity to learning parenting and job skills to allow them to return to mainstream society.{{Cite book|title=Historical archaeology at the Berachah Rescue Home: a holistic approach and analysis of an industrial homestead in Arlington, Texas|last=Davis|first=Cody|year=2009}} {{OCLC|497909351}} Retrieved March 17, 2018 – via the [https://uta-ir.tdl.org/uta-ir/handle/10106/1644 Research Commons] Funding for the home came from contributions made by local businessmen in the Dallas–Fort Worth area. By 1924, 129 women and girls were residents at the Berachah Home; their average age was 17.{{Cite news|title=Public Welfare: Delinquent Home Cares for 129 Girls|date=February 7, 1924|work=Fort Worth Press}} The home ultimately closed in 1935 due to insufficient funds.{{Cite news|title=Closing Berachah Home Forced by Lack of Cash|date=January 10, 1935|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=9}} Women and girls at the home were relocated elsewhere.
The Berachah Child Institute opened on the Berachah Home grounds on Easter Sunday, 1936.{{Cite news|title=Letters from Readers|last=Upchurch|first=J.T.|date=April 11, 1936|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=2}} The Berachah Institute was founded for the care of children from broken homes.{{Cite news|title=1,000 Laying Hens Needed by Institute|date=June 1, 1939|work=The Dallas Morning News|page=8}} The orphanage was operated by Frank Wiese until it closed in 1942. Rev. J. T. Upchurch died at his home in Dallas on September 12, 1950.{{Cite news|title=J.T. Upchurch Fame Texas Minister Claimed In Dallas|date=September 13, 1950|work=Lubbock Morning Avalanche}}
References
Further reading
- Britton, Vickie. Old West Female Outlaws-Prostitution in the West-Soiled Doves.
- Butts, J. Lee. Texas Bad Girls: Hussies, Harlots and Horse Thieves. Dallas: Texas Republic Press. 2001. {{OCLC|954038457}}
- Crowell, Gwinnetta Malone. [https://www.uta.edu/honors/_doc/senior-project/sample-theses/LibArts_Interdisciplinary_Studies.pdf Sisters from the Society of Secrets and Lies-Why Women Chose Adoption between 1950-1979]. University of Texas at Arlington, May 2007. Accessed March 16, 2018.
- Crowell, Gwinnetta Malone. Go and Sin no More - the Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption and Protection of Erring Girls. University of Texas at Arlington: 2005
- Crowell, Gwinnetta Malone. [https://uta-ir.tdl.org/uta-ir/handle/10106/2027 To Keep Those Red Lights Burning: Dallas' Response to Prostitution 1874-1913]. University of Texas at Arlington, December 2009. Accessed March 16, 2018.
- Enstam, Elizabeth York. "Virginia K. Johnson: A Second Chance for the Wayward", Michael V. Hazel, ed., Dallas Reconsidered: Essays in Local History, (Dallas: Three Forks Press, 1995)
- Enstam, Elizabeth York. Women and the Creation of Urban Life: Dallas, Texas 1843-1920. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, 1998. {{ISBN|9780890967997}} {{OCLC|490954562}}
- Hazel, Michael V., ed., Dallas Reconsidered: Essays in Local History. Dallas: Dallas County Heritage Society and Dallas Historical Society, 1995. {{OCLC|493692771}}
- The Purity Journal, Arlington, Texas. {{OCLC|17655489}}
- Rogers, John William. The Lusty Texans of Dallas. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1951. {{OCLC|728654375}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls}}
- [http://library.uta.edu/berachah-home/ Berachah Industrial Home for the Redemption of Erring Girls online exhibit]
- [https://library.uta.edu/spco/timeframes/purity_journal.html Timeframes video on the Purity Journal]
- {{TARO|utarl|00112|Berachah Home Collection}}
Category:1903 establishments in Texas
Category:1935 disestablishments in Texas
Category:1936 establishments in Texas
Category:1942 disestablishments in Texas
Category:Christianity in Texas
Category:Christianity and women
Category:History of women in Texas