Mooseheart, Illinois

Unincorporated community in Illinois, United States

41°49′06″N 88°19′53″W / 41.81833°N 88.33139°W / 41.81833; -88.33139CountryUnited StatesStateIllinoisCountyKaneTownship BataviaTime zoneUTC-6 (CST) • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)ZIP code

60539

Area codes630/331

Mooseheart, located in Kane County, Illinois, is an unincorporated community and a home for children administered by the Loyal Order of Moose. Also known as the City of Children, the community is featured as a 1949 episode of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's short film series Passing Parade, which was written and narrated by John Nesbitt.^[1] In 2013, Mooseheart celebrated its 100th anniversary with a rededication ceremony, public tours, fireworks, and other festivities.^[2]

Like Moose Lodges, Mooseheart was originally only open to Caucasians.^[3] The facility was created to be a home for the widows and the children of members of the Loyal Order of Moose. Later, any child who had a family member who was a member of the Moose could be admitted. In 1994, admission policies were changed to allow any child in need to apply for admission, regardless of the family's affiliation or lack thereof with the Moose.^[4]

In the 1950s, a pediatrician conducting a longitudinal study of children's growth at Mooseheart recalled there was tension since he felt that the board of directors was conducting the study to prove the superiority of the white race.^[5] By the 1990s, Mooseheart was open to children of all races and predominantly enrolled minority children.^[3]

In 1994, four Mooseheart employees were convicted of sexually abusing children.^[6] Two years later, a Mooseheart employee was convicted of possession of child pornography.^[6]

References

^ City of Children at IMDb
^ Sarkauskas, Susan (July 26, 2013). "Mooseheart to celebrate its 100th anniversary". Chicago Daily Herald. Mooseheart-The Child City and School is celebrating its 100th anniversary Saturday with a rededication ceremony, a carnival, tours and fireworks.
^ ^a ^b Gregory, Ted (July 16, 2013). "Mooseheart still the home of 'Mighty Orphans'". Chicago Tribune.
^ History of Mooseheart
^ Stern, Alexandra Minna; Markel, Howard, eds. (2002). Formative years: children's health in the United States, 1880-2000. University of Michigan Press. p. 171. ISBN 978-0472112685.
^ ^a ^b Yong, Linda (April 24, 1996). "Mooseheart Rocked by Sex Case". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 23, 2022.

Beito, David T. (2000). From Mutual Aid to the Welfare State: Fraternal Societies and Social Services, 1890–1967 (1st ed.). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4841-8.
Reymert & Hinton 1940, "The effect of a change to a relatively superior environment upon the IQs of one hundred children", The Thirty-Ninth Yearbook Of The National Society For The Study Of Education: Intelligence, Its Nature And Nurture, Part II: Original Studies And Experiments