Fonds MS14 - Children's Aid Society of the County of Essex fonds

The Children's Aid Society of the County of Essex has had a long history of helping this area's underprivileged youth. Two 1895 documents in the fonds indicate an early movement on the part of local citizens to have a relief agency established. The earliest Board of Directors Minutes date back to 1905, although the first minute book states the Society had been incorporated in 1899. Unfortunately, there are no early records in existence. After some years of inactivity, the Society was urged to reorganise or disband. On 5 November, 1905 a meeting was held and the aims and objectives of the Society were reformulated. It has grown considerably since. Originally known as the Children's Aid Society of Windsor, between 1899 and 1934 the agency operated under a variety of names which included the areas of Walkerville, Sandwich and greater Essex County. Partially as a result of amalgamation in 1935 and the expansion of the City of Windsor, the organisation became the Children's Aid Society of the City of Windsor, the County of Essex and Pelee Island. The need for a more decentralised operation to handle county cases led to the opening of the Leamington office in February of 1950. The society's current name officially came into use on 1 July 1956. Although some consideration was given to uniting with the Roman Catholic Children's Aid Society in 1973, the two organisations decided to keep the agencies separate, but cooperate in forming joint committees to handle common problems.