Original African-American childrens' cottage at Glenn, aka 'Cottage D'. See Map for campus placement.
The building date is unknown and while not torn down with the other original buildings in 1948 / 49- it was destroyed by arson in 1990. The burnt out remains still stand today. It stood empty from the early 1960's to the closure of the campus in 1979 and was used for storage.
In 1936 the county built a new 'modern' facility west of the original campus buildings, still a part of The Glenn Home for Children. It was a beautiful Georgian style with plenty of room for all.
This building was used until 1961 when the campus was integrated back into one. In 1965 the Vigo County Juvenile Center took home in the building, where it remained until 2001 when they moved into a state-of-the-art facility in downtown.
After sitting for 7 years it was by 2008 an abandoned and badly vandalized structure still owned by the County.
In the spring of 2008, the property in whole was purchased by a private developer and the the building razed to make way for new apartment complexes for Rose-Hulman students.
Group of children taken from a Christmas 1941 photo of the Glenn Home residents. Photo was taken in the Gym
*Some sources date this photo as 1941, others 1943
African-American History Of Glenn Home
If you have information you would like to share on the African-American history of Glenn Home, corrections of information presented on this website, or comments on the Home in general, please feel free to email me with the details. This website is a communtiy wide effort to pay respect to an important part of our Valley history.
February 26, 2007: Article from the Tribune Star Newspaper:
"Former resident looks back on his days in Vigo County’s ‘colored orphans home’"
This is detailed segment contains descriptions and memories from a former resident's time at the Home in the 30's and early 40's
*Images used by permission of the Tribune Star Newspaper and Mr. James Anderson.
From the Blog- July 2008...
The Rubble of History...Glenn Home's 1936 Building Demolished...
Former Juvenile Center building - originally part of Glenn Home - is now a pile of rubble.
I stopped by on Sunday just to see if the building was down by now- it is. Sad to see a part of Vigo County History a pile of blocks and debris. Not much can be said though I suppose and Mr. Overton who bought the property to turn into apartments / condo's stated that he does plan on somehow recognizing the site's original use and building in the new structures.
I could very easily tell by looking down into what would've been the lower level what was original 1936 artitechure. (probably not the smartest or safest thing I've ever done considering I was alone and standing on a crumbling outer basement wall!) Anyway...I've attatched some photos...
