Honoring Black History Through Child Advocacy: Carrie Steele Logan

Carrie Steele Logan was born into slavery in 1829 and was orphaned as a child. After she was freed, she began working at a train depot. She saw many children who were displaced and without parents. She looked after some of the children herself, but soon realized she was destined to do something bigger.

In 1889, she founded the Carrie Steele Orphan Home, the first Black orphanage in the United States – offering housing, education and job training to prep its occupants for life beyond the foster home. The orphanage, now called the Carrie Steele-Pitts Home, is still in operation.