Book details

  • Genre:biography & autobiography
  • Sub-genre:Historical
  • Language:English
  • Pages:152
  • Paperback ISBN:9798317830809

We Called It Home

St. Vincent's Home, Drexel Hill PA

By Martin Whalen and Peg Whalen

Overview

"We Called It Home" is a non-fiction historical book about a Philadelphia area Catholic girl's orphanage in the early mid-1900's. The book contains stories gathered from interviews or letters written by or about women who grew up in the orphanage between 1920 and 1953. It also includes letters from some of the Catholic nuns who worked at the orphanage. Photos from the period are found throughout the book. This is an expanded edition of a 2003 compilation.
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Description

For family genealogists or scholars of child welfare history, this book presents primary source accounts that illuminate daily life in one early to mid-20th-century orphanage. While details shift from one voice to the next, the collective narrative opens a window into the shared world of the women of St. Vincent's Home in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. These stories echo across generations; descendants share how the home's legacy still echoes in their lives today, adding a profound richness to the work. "We Called It Home" captures the humor, heartbreak, love, and gratitude found within the home's walls. Whalen hopes these pages touch your heart. These narratives provide vivid snapshots of the "orphan" experience, in residents' own words, and offer rare glimpses into a Catholic orphanage that the Daughters of Charity managed under the Diocese of Philadelphia's care.
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About The Author

Martin F. Whalen, Jr. has writing experience with the 2003 first edition of "We Called it Home," followed by the 2023 release of "Hey Dad," his writing about fatherhood. Growing up as an only child, spending time with hundreds of residents at St. Vincent's Home, he dreamt of providing for a large, close-knit family of his own. He imagined raising his children with the same values, care, and connection experienced by the girls and nuns at St. Vincent's Home. In this he believes he succeeded. Now 89, he is publishing an updated second edition of "We Call it Home." in railroad communications and signals. In addition to writing, he enjoys family genealogy among other interests. Since retiring, he keeps in contact with some of the women raised in the home and with his adult children and grandchildren in the Philadelphia area, Kansas, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. He is the father of seven, grandfather of seven and great-grandfather of two.
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