pinterest-icon

donate button

1920s Homeless Boy

Preface: An excerpt from the Bureau for Men's 1930 study on St. Louis' homeless boys. It is a brief case history of an unnamed "sex pervert" and "pansy" in the Bureau's care. Beyond the information provided in the report, it is only known that he was a white teenager and had been paroled no earlier than February 1925.

Mother dead. Has stepmother. Is sex pervert, woman impersonator. Known as a "pansy". Paroled to Kingdom House. Placed in Christian Home. Had not lived at own home for a long time. Knew very little of his sisters and brothers. Charge in Juvenile Court was check forgery, which case testified his father had forced him into by beatings. Improvement while with Christian family remarkable. ([Bureau for Homeless Men] paying room and board.) Client displays concern for welfare of a brother and sister with father, who client claimed is always drunk. ... Client's mother - dope fiend, maternal grandfather died in prison. Father himself had been an outlaw, operating in Wyoming and Colorado. ... Doctor stated a minor operation (circumcision) might relieve sex preversity [sic] of client. Good report from farm where client is learning farming. Psychiatric examination elicited no new facts. Client taking deeper interest in life. Has own chickens. Reads much - takes physical exercise for "muscles", wants to learn interior decorating. At present client still on farm - doing well. Juvenile Court pleased with reports on him and client's contacts with father and family entirely erased."

Source: File 84, Bureau for Men Records, 1921-1982 (sl 176), State Historical Society of Missouri

Copyright Steven Louis Brawley, 2007-Present. All Rights Reserved.