Florence Crittenton Home of Seattle

The Florence Crittenton Home of Seattle (1899-1973) was a housing facility for single mothers located six miles south of Seattle. The facility was part of a chain of Florence Crittenton Homes, which were located in 50 cities across the U.S. The homes were founded by Charles Crittenton, a wealthy New York druggist who was part of a reform movement to end prosititution and moral vice. Originally, the Florence Crittenton Homes provided assistance to prostitutes, but later it expanded its mission to include a wide variety of concerns, including homelessness, women's health, domestic abuse and assisting single, pregnant women and mothers. The Florence Crittenton Home of Seattle served mainly as a maternity home, where young women would live during the latter parts of their pregnancies and up to three months after giving birth. Children born in the Florence Crittenton Home were either placed for adoption or were kept with their birth mothers. During the first half of the 20th century, the home's services were in high demand, and the facility was expanded several times, operating at a maximum capacity of 200 in 1963. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the social stigma surrounding single parenthood lessened, the demand for the home's services decreased. In 1973, United Way stopped funding the Florence Crittenton Home of Seattle because of lack of need. On March 15, 1973, the facility closed.