Selected Records on microfilm, 1875-1979

The Buckhorn Children’s Center Collection (1874-1979) consists of records of the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency of Buckhorn, Kentucky (PCWA), incorporated in 1956. This collection also includes records describing the program and facilities at Buckhorn from 1902-1956, as well as the extant files of the Presbyterian Orphan’s Home Society of Louisville. The Society, established in 1870, was reorganized and re-named the Presbyterian Synod Home for Children in 1946. It was later merged with the Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency at Buckhorn (Buckhorn Children’s Center.) The PCWA is the legal successor of the Louisville Orphan’s Home Society; thus the minutes of the governing board (1908-1956) and admission / release ledgers (1874- 1936) are part of the collection.

Documentation of Buckhorn’s history is sparse for the years 1902-1956, specifically for the administrations of Harvey Murdoch (1902-1936) and Elmer Gabbard (1936-1956). All that has survived are the yearly reports given by the directors to the Buckhorn Association, a New York City-based group that served as the governing body of the school beginning in 1916. Thus, the Board of Directors and Association membership annual meetings and reports (2 vols. 1916- 1960) are the primary sources describing the program at Buckhorn during those years.

In 1953-54, The Buckhorn Association signed over the administration of the child welfare program and facilities to the E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund. The Robinson Fund administered Buckhorn until the 1956 merger with the Presbyterian Synod Home for Children. While the record of the Buckhorn Association is substantive, the lack of correspondence and other administrative files from 1902-1956 is unfortunate. As a result, all records found at the Center for this period have been microfilmed. (Berea’s E.O. Robinson Mountain Fund Collection SAA 20, contains additional information on the Buckhorn Children’s Center for the period 1953- 1956.)

Part A is divided into three series: 1. Presbyterian Orphan’s Home Society of Louisville (Presbyterian Synod Home for Children), 1874-1956; 2. Buckhorn Association, 1902-1960; 3. Presbyterian Child Welfare Agency, 1954-1979.