1895 Letitia Rosenberg Home For Women - Galveston, Texas

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👂Listen: Silk Stocking District
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Interested in information covered in this episode? Dive deeper into the links below! :

1895 Letitia Rosenberg Home For Women: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/letitia-rosenberg-womans-home

Silk Stocking Historic District: https://www.galvestontx.gov/648/Silk-Stocking

Photos of Grade raising and elevating the home: https://www.galvestonhistorycenter.org/research/buildings

Transcript:
After Henry Rosenberg died in 1893, among the many gifts he left to the City of Galveston, The funds for the building of the Letitia Rosenberg home for women was one of the most paramount for the growing city at the time. However, the founding of a woman’s home in Galveston was not due to Henry. The initial idea for the home started years before the building we see today was erected. In November 1888 a group of "charitable ladies" met at Trinity Episcopal Church to begin forming a home for elderly women.  These women assembled a female board of seventeen directors and chose executive officers from several churches around the island.Officially beginning in 1889, the directors rented a house on 31st Street for $25 a month. Within a year twenty-three elderly women lived there. Their expenses were paid by subscriptions of the women who composed the board of directors & donations. After Henry Rosenberg died, he left 30,000 dollars to build and furnish the Victorian Gothic building which still stands today.  The building was built in 1895 and was dedicated in 1896, to Henry Rosenberg‘s first wife, Letitia. Letitia died in 1888. The Rosenberg Woman’s Home was formally dedicated in 1896. The building served as a residence for elderly women who could not properly care for themselves, who were in poor health or in need of financial assistance. Henry Rosenberg saw his bequest as filling a pressing need in Galveston, and provided in his will for the construction of a permanent structure. The building was designed by famed German Architect Alfred Muller. The building operated as a home for women until 1970. Impressively, this building was elevated during the grade raising after the 1900 Storm and the photos of this feat are just as impressive as elevating St. Patrick’s church. 

Key Words: Galveston, Texas, History, Island, Beach, cruise, cruise ship, vacation, Henry Rosenberg, Fountains, East End Histori