Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/17

 SCHOOLS FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN 3

I. THE ILLINOIS INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.

The first industrial school for girls in Illinois was the "Illinois Industrial School for Girls," which was founded on January 9, 1877, ky the Industrial School Association an outgrowth of the Woman's State Centennial Association of this state. The school was located at South Evanston, and was opened on November I, 1877, m a building used as a soldiers' home, with five acres of land surrounding it. On October i, 1879, the school was reorganized under the above-named act, and a new charter obtained. The school is a state institution, receiving girls from any part of the state, and having the whole state jepresented on its board of officers. It is nonsectarian, all churches contributing to its support.

The ordinary English branches and domestic arts are taught the girls. The school is managed by a board of trustees, elected by the association, and they appoint the superintendent, who has immediate charge of the school.

In 1882 the constitutionality of the act of 1879 was called in question, but the supreme court decided in favor of the Indus- trial School. The decision said :

The power conferred under the act in question upon the county court is but of the same character of jurisdiction exercised by the court of chan- cery over the persons and property of infants, having foundation in the pre- rogative of the crown, flowing from its general power and duty, as parens patriae, to protect those who have no other lawful protection. That juris- diction extends to the care and person of the infant so far as is necessary for his protection and education, and upon this ground that court interferes with the ordinary rights of parents to the care and custody of their children ; and whenever it is shown that they are grossly unfit to take care of their children, the court may interfere and deprive them of their custody and appoint a suitable person or guardian to take care of them and superintend their educa- tion. This is nothing more than what the Industrial Schools Act does.

The court thus practically set aside the decision in the case of the Chicago Reform School, and in the later opinion held that it is the duty of the state to care for dependent and destitute children. It also held that the Industrial School for Girls was not a prison, but a school, and the commitment of a child thereto is not imprisonment. There is no more restraint of liberty in this