Editing Boys Town (organization)

{{Short description|Nonprofit organization based in US}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = Boys Town
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| formation           = {{start date and age|1917|12|12}}
| founder             = [[Edward J. Flanagan]]
| founding_location   = [[Boys Town, Nebraska]]
| type                = 501(c)(3) nonprofit
| tax_id              = <!-- or | vat_id = (for European organizations) -->
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| headquarters        = Boys Town, Nebraska
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| website             = {{URL|https://www.boystown.org/}}
}}

'''Boys Town''', officially '''Father Flanagan's Boys' Home''', is a [[nonprofit]] based in [[Boys Town, Nebraska]] dedicated to caring for children and families.

==History==
[[File:Boys Town, Nebraska (66677).jpg|thumb|right|Boys Town, Nebraska]]

Boys Town was founded on December 12, 1917,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/commemorative-coins/boys-town-centennial|title=Boys Town Centennial Commemorative Coin Program|website=usmint.gov  |date=September 19, 2016 | access-date = January 8, 2020}}</ref> as an [[orphanage]] for boys. Originally known as "The City of Little Men", the organization was begun by [[Edward J. Flanagan]], a Roman Catholic [[priest]], while he worked in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Omaha|Diocese of Omaha]]. Using a loan of $90, he first rented a home at 25th and Dodge streets, in Omaha, to care for five boys.<ref>[https://www.boystown.org/about/father-flanagan/Pages/flanagan-timeline.aspx Timeline]</ref> From these beginnings, the City of Little Men developed new juvenile care methods in 20th-century America, emphasizing "social preparation as a [[Modelling (psychology)|model]] for public boys' homes worldwide".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAesAgAAQBAJ&q=the+%22City+of+Little+Men%22+pioneered+development+of+new+juvenile+care+methods+in+20th-century+America&pg=PA153|title=Developing Emotional Intelligence in the Primary School|first1=Sue|last1=Colverd |first2=Bernard |last2=Hodgkin|publisher=Routledge|date=2011|page=153|isbn=978-1136841347|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref> Flanagan is now a candidate for beatification.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-17 |title=The Life, Legacy and Canonization Cause of Boys Town Founder Father Edward Flanagan |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/the-life-legacy-and-canonization-cause-of-boys-town-founder-father-edward-flanagan |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=NCR |language=en}}</ref>

=== 1917–1921: Early growth and move to Overlook Farm ===
Boys Town quickly grew from the original five boys living in a home in downtown Omaha in 1917 to more than 100 boys by early 1918. The increase required a relocation in 1919 to South Omaha. Flanagan had been contending with criticism about having kids of different races, religions, nationalities, and backgrounds all living together under the same roof. Mounting societal tensions and the need for even more space led to Flanagan’s 1921 decision to relocate Boys Town to Overlook Farm.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cordes |first=Henry J. |date=2 March 2024 |title=When Segregation Prevailed In US Boys Town May Have Been Nations First Integration Community |url=https://omaha.com/news/local/history/when-segregation-prevailed-in-us-boys-town-may-have-been-nations-first-integrated-community/article_f0eedf4e-d671-11ee-87db-c36dc4c3baca.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302144833/https://omaha.com/news/local/history/when-segregation-prevailed-in-us-boys-town-may-have-been-nations-first-integrated-community/article_f0eedf4e-d671-11ee-87db-c36dc4c3baca.html |archive-date=2 March 2024 |access-date=27 March 2024 |work=Omaha World Herald}}</ref>

In 1921, Father Flanagan purchased Overlook Farm on the outskirts of Omaha and moved his boys' home there. The move to Overlook Farm was a major step in Father Flanagan's plan to create a developed community. In time, the Home became known as the Village of Boys Town. By the 1930s, hundreds of boys lived at the Village, which was developed to include a school, dormitories, and administration buildings. Adapting the "Junior Republic" model, the boys elected their own government, including a mayor, council, and commissioners.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Light |first=Jennifer S. |url=https://archive.org/details/mit_press_book_9780262358606/page/37/mode/2up?q=%22boys+town%22 |title=States of Childhood: From the Junior Republic to the American Republic, 1895-1945 |date=2020-07-14 |isbn=978-0-262-35860-6 |pages=214}}</ref> In 1936, the community of Boys Town was designated as an official village in the state of Nebraska.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Father Edward Flanagan's legacy |url=https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.php?ID=180466 |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=www.thebostonpilot.com |language=en}}</ref>

By the late 1930s, Boys Town's development and staff efforts to court public support had made it the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles. In 1938, producers from MGM Studios traveled to Boys Town to discuss the prospects of a [[Boys Town (film)|movie]] about the Home. A few months later, actors [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Mickey Rooney]], along with a 61-member crew, arrived at Boys Town to begin ten days of on-location filming. Tracy won an Academy Award for his role.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Quart |first=Leonard |date=1995 |title=A Second Look: Boys Town |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41687398 |journal=Cinéaste |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=55–57 |issn=0009-7004}}</ref>

In 1943, Boys Town adopted as its image and logo a picture of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, captioned "[[He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother]]," a phrase originating with the [[United Free Church of Scotland]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Andy |date=July 13, 2015 |title=He Ain't Heavy Boys Town's Chris and Lori Mathsen |url=http://omahamagazine.com/2015/07/he-aint-heavy/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829064704/http://omahamagazine.com/2015/07/he-aint-heavy/ |archive-date=August 29, 2016 |access-date=July 4, 2016 |website=Omaha Magazine}}</ref>

When Flanagan suffered a fatal heart attack in [[Berlin|Berlin, Germany]] in 1948,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Msgr. Flanagan dies suddenly in Berlin|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/msgr-flanagan-dies-suddenly-in-berlin-1.26692|access-date=April 26, 2021|website=Stars and Stripes}}</ref> the archbishop of Omaha, Gerald T. Bergan, named Monsignor [[Nicholas H. Wegner]] as Boys Town's second executive director. The best records available indicate that the home's population peaked at 880, in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wegner|first=Nicholas H.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63178368|title=The mission continues : Monsignor Nicholas Wegner of Boys Town|date=2005|publisher=Boys Town Press|others=Barbara Lonnborg; Thomas J. Lynch|isbn=1889322636|location=Boys Town, Neb.|oclc=63178368}}</ref>

=== Fundraising controversy and Wegner's resignation ===
Boys Town's fundraising practices drew scrutiny in 1972 after the [[Omaha Sun]], a local newspaper, investigated the nonprofit after a tip from local Omaha businessman [[Warren Buffett]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Boys Town Has an Embarrassment of Riches
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/16/archives/boys-town-has-an-embarrassment-of-riches-new-commitments.html|access-date=January 31, 2022|first=Douglas E.|last=Kneeland|date=April 16, 1974|work=[[The New York Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 31, 2017|title=Like many nonprofits, their mission started to drift |url=https://www.philanthropydaily.com/nonprofits-mission-drift-boys-town-omaha/|access-date=January 31, 2022|website=Philanthropy Daily|language=en-US|first=Martin Morse|last=Wooster}}</ref> The charity was found to have an endowment of over $191 million in 1971, enough to place it at #230 on the [[Fortune 500]], yet continued to fundraise even with a shrinking population and no new expansion projects. Wegner was forced to resign and temporarily halted its fundraising activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://capitalresearch.org/article/warren-buffett-a-wealthy-philanthropist-with-some-bad-ideas/|title=Warren Buffett: A Wealthy Philanthropist with Some Bad Ideas|last=Wooster|first=Martin Morse|date=November 2, 2011|access-date=January 31, 2022|website=[[Capital Research Center]]}}</ref> The Omaha Sun received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting#Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting|Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting]] in 1973 for the story.<ref>{{Cite web|last=The Pulitzer Prizes|title=The 1973 Pulitzer Prize Winner|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-10|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en}}</ref> On October 11, 1973, Robert P. Hupp was named the third national executive director.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lynch|first=Thomas J.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950901737|title=A century of service, a history of healing: the Boys Town story|date=2016|others=Terry Hyland|isbn=978-1681840536|location=Virginia Beach, VA|oclc=950901737}}</ref>

== Transition to Family Home programs ==
In late 1974, Boys Town hired its first "Family-Teachers", a married couple who would begin caring for a small group of youth in a former cottage being converted into a "Family Home". Three other couples were hired soon after. That core group worked with other staff members to develop formal training materials for the Family-Teachers who were being recruited. As new couples were trained, they moved into newly built homes and converted cottages. By the end of 1975, the last of the dormitories was closed and the transition to the Boys Town Family Home Program was complete.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-01-28 |title=Program Profile: Boys Town Family Home Program |url=https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/ratedprograms/boys-town-family-home-program |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=National Institute of Justice, Crime Solutions |language=en}}</ref>

=== Boys Town admits girls (1979) ===
The executive director Robert Hupp had experience working with troubled girls. He had served from 1946 to 1950 as chaplain, teacher, and athletic coach for a girls' home run by the [[Sisters of the Good Shepherd]] Convent in Omaha. In 1979, a few girls were admitted to live in a Family Home on the main campus. More followed and by 1985, twenty-six girls were citizens of Boys Town.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=2003-09-08 |title=Monsignor Robert Hupp, 88, Reformer of Boys Town, Dies |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/09/08/monsignor-robert-hupp-88/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=New York Times News |language=en-US}}</ref>

== National Historic Landmark ==
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Father Flanagan's Boys' Home
| nrhp_type = nhld
| image = Boys Town NFS.JPG
| caption =
| location = [[Boys Town, Nebraska]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41|15|52|N|96|7|58|W|display=inline}}
| locmapin = Nebraska#USA
| area = {{convert|1310|acre|km2}}
| built = 1917
| architect = Leo A. Daly Construction
| architecture = Tudor Revival
| designated_nrhp_type= February 4, 1985<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1906&ResourceType=District|title=Father Flanagan's Boys' Home|access-date=June 27, 2008|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311015033/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1906&ResourceType=District|archive-date=March 11, 2009}}</ref>
| added = February 4, 1985<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
| refnum = 85002439
}}

The national headquarters of Boys Town is in the village of [[Boys Town, Nebraska]]; the village was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] on February 4, 1985.

Facilities include the Hall of History, dedicated to the history of Boys Town; the restored home of Father Flanagan; the Dowd Memorial Chapel and the Chambers Protestant Chapel; and the Leon Myers Stamp Center. The latter provides historical stamp-collecting exhibits and sells donated stamps to provide support for Boys Town programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boystown.org/about/visit-the-village|title=Visit the Village|website=boystown.org|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref>

It has a summer camp on West Lake Okoboji, located near [[West Okoboji, Iowa]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rood |first=Lee |title=Major findings of investigation into alleged sex abuse at Boys Town, fundraising approach |url=https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/investigations/readers-watchdog/2023/11/08/at-iconic-boys-town-questions-emerge-over-alleged-sexual-abuse-fundraising-for-youth-home/71289065007/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=The Des Moines Register |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Boys Town Medical Center (76870).jpg|thumb|left|Boys Town Medical Center]]

== Hospitals and clinics ==
In 1977, Boys Town founded and continues to operate the Boys Town National Research Hospital, located at 555&nbsp;N.&nbsp;30th Street in Omaha. Its sister hospital, Boys Town National Research Hospital – West, is operated on the Boys Town campus. The [[Nonprofit organization|NPO]] also operates several [[medical clinic]]s in Nebraska, and one in Iowa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Locations |url=https://www.boystownhospital.org/locations |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=www.boystownhospital.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

==National locations==
Boys Town has nine sites across the United States, in Central Florida, North Florida, South Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Iowa, New England, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boys Town National Locations |url=https://www.boystown.org/locations/Pages/default.aspx |access-date=May 8, 2019}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.boystown.org}}
* [http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=1338 Case studies of Boys Town, Mackinac Center for Public Policy]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101022172847/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905898,00.html "Nebraska: Boys Town Bonanza"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', April 10, 1972.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101015010314/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879438,00.html "Education: Rebuilding Boys Town"], ''Time'', August 5, 1974.
* [https://durhammuseum.org/event/lets-go-to-town-for-boys-town-100-years-of-saving-children-healing-families-3/ Durham Museum Boys Town exhibit]

{{Omaha Landmark cultural venues}}
{{NRHP Omaha}}
{{Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys Town (Organization)}}
[[Category:1917 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1917]]
[[Category:Charities based in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Social welfare charities based in the United States]]
[[Category:Orphanages in the United States]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Nebraska]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:History of Omaha, Nebraska by community area]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Museums in Omaha, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Philatelic museums in the United States]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Nebraska]]
[[Category:History museums in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska]]