Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/341

 REFORM AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS

In 1868 the Twelfth General Assembly passed an act for the establishment of the Iowa Reform School. The trustees leased a building at Salem, in Henry County, where a school was opened for the reception of pupils. The Fourteenth General Assembly made an appropriation for suitable buildings which were located at Eldora. In 1879 the buildings and grounds of Mitchellville Seminary were purchased for the girls’ department, which had been established. The Twentieth General Assembly changed the name of these institutions to the State Industrial Schools. The design of the schools is the reception and reformation of juvenile offenders of law, by a systematic course of moral and physical training, under such restraint as may be necessary.

SOLDIERS’ ORPHANS’ HOME

The Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home was organized by patriotic citizens of Iowa, in October, 1863, for the support and education of orphan children of soldiers of the Civil War. The institution was opened in 1864 by leasing a building in Van Buren County where, on the 13th of July, it was ready for the reception of children. It was supported by private contributions until 1866, when the Eleventh General Assembly provided a special fund for its maintenance and the institution was removed to Davenport.

SOLDIERS’ HOME

The Twenty-first General Assembly established the Iowa Soldiers’ Home by making an appropriation of $75,000 for grounds and buildings and $25,000 for maintenance. The institution was located at Marshalltown where suitable buildings were erected and the home opened November 30th, 1887. It was the design of the