Jewish Orphans’ Home of New Orleans

Children and widows of the Jewish Orphans’ Home, 1855–1946

Compiled by Marlene Trestman in connection with research for her book,
Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans' Home of New Orleans
(LSU Press, Oct. 2023).

This collection originates from handwritten information in the Home’s original Registry Books. 1,622 children who resided in the Home between 1855 and 1946 are included. 24 widows and elderly unmarried women who lived in the Home between 1855 and 1885 are also included. 

Contents include GIVEN NAME, SURNAME, ADDITIONAL GIVEN NAME, ADDITIONAL SURNAME, PARENT NAMES, BIRTH DATE, BIRTH CITY, BIRTH STATE, BIRTH COUNTRY, FROM WHERE RECEIVED, ADMIT DATE, DISCHARGE DATE, WHETHER DEATH OCCURRED AT ORPHANAGE, BIO #, STATUS, and NOTES.

In addition to any errors or omissions that occurred at the time the information was recorded, despite best efforts, these lists may contain errors in spelling and substance. Researchers should use this index as a starting point.

Bio # represents the unique Registry page number, and there are gaps in the sequence of consecutive numbers. In part, this is due to the Home’s erroneous creation of a duplicate entry for a child at the time of discharge. Where this occurred, discharge data is combined with the earlier admission entry. Any other gaps in Bio #s are due to the maintenance of two separate spreadsheets; one for children, and another for widows and elderly unmarried women. 

Descendants of Home residents who wish to obtain a digital image of the actual Registry page for an ancestor(s) may contact Marlene Trestman at marlenetrestman@gmail.com.

Additional information about the Home children and widows is available in the Online Supplement to Marlene’s book, at www.marlenetrestman.com.

A JewishGen Talks “Researching Jews in America” webinar about this book and collection was recorded December 13, 2023 and can be found on the JewishGen YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@JewishGen613.

This database is searchable via the JewishGen USA Database or the JewishGen Unified Search.