From the annual report of Mrs. James Robert Burns 1990: "I regard the care of the aged as the most beautiful of all humane institutions and as the charity of charities. Neatly tucked away of Covington's east side, at the edge of the Licking River, on the southeast of Seventh and Garrard Streets is the stately Victorian-style house which is the Covington Ladies Home. It was once known as the >Home for Aged Women and Indigent Women=, as on the sign above the front door you can see.
This was the name given to the institution on the day of its birth, 101 years ago, in 1886 when several women of a philanthropical mind started the home out of concern for the elderly women who had no where else to turn in the great place of Covington.
The Home's real founded was Mrs. Ellen B. Dietrich, who was well aware of the condition of the poor in the neighborhood. Her own home residence on West 5th Street often served as a haven for these women, who had no place to stay. Although the city provided a monthly dole of coal, medicine and other provisions to the poor, it was, in most cases, inadequate, leaving door-to-door begging as the only resort of those in need.
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Copyright © 2002 The Kenton County Observer
Last modified: March 07, 2002