The Poorhouse: America’s Forgotten Institution

Many of us grew up hearing our parents exclaim you are driving me to the poorhouse! or remember the card in the Monopoly game which says Go to the Poorhouse! Lose a Turn! Yet most Americans know little or nothing of this institution that existed under a variety of names for approximately three hundred years of American history. Exploring the history of the inmates as well as staff and officials in New England, this book connects contemporary times to the poorhouse history as the homeless shelter, jail, prison, and other institutions again hold millions of poor people under institutional care, sometimes in the very same structures that were poorhouses.