| | Abstract: | Beech Brook, Inc. is a treatment center devoted to the care of emotionally disturbed children located in Pepper Pike, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It began in 1852 in Cleveland as the Cleveland Orphan Asylum, established by the Martha Washington & Dorcas Society to deal with children orphaned during the cholera epidemic of 1848. Among the founders were Rebecca and Benjamin Rouse. The first board chairman was Sherlock J. Andrews. The asylum was run by a female board of managers, lead by Rebecca Rouse. In 1875, it was renamed the Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum, and in 1878 moved to a new building on St. Clair Ave. financed by Jeptha Wade Sr. and built on land donated by Leonard Case. In 1926, the institution moved to a new location in Pepper Pike on land originally donated by Jeptha Wade, Jr. By 1958, the asylum stopped accepting orphans and oriented itself to the care of emotionally disturbed children, becoming a treatment center for these children and their families in 1960. In 1971, the name was changed to Beech Brook, Inc. The collection consists of histories, minutes, reports, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks/record books. | |
