Ella Austin Orphanage
orphanage in San Antonio, Texas
Ella Austin Orphanage was an African American owned and operated orphanage in San Antonio, Texas. It grew out of the home of Ella and Edward Austin, moved to larger premises, and became established in 1897. As well as serving children in need it became a hub for local community and philanthropic endeavors. It closed in 1968, but the Ella Austin Community Center continues to honor her legacy.
Ella Austin
Born in Ohio on February 17, 1856, Ella Stephens married Edward Austin, a South Carolina-born veteran, in Washington, Ohio, on June 29, 1879. However, by 1880 Ella and Edward had moved to San Antonio and opened their West side home to children in need. By 1897 they had taken in so many children that their home officially became an orphanage. Eventually the overcrowded conditions led to the purchase of a two-story structure on the East Side at 1920 Burnet Street.
Orphanage
From the very beginning the orphanage developed as a center point of community involvement and support. Within the first years of Ella Austin’s Orphanage the Progressive Women’s Club, a leading black philanthropic organization in San Antonio, became involved as caretakers and fundraisers.
The public source identifies “Ella Austin Orphanage” as orphanage in San Antonio, Texas. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ella, Austin and Orphanage.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ella Austin Orphanage” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.