Kingsley House Timeline
1896: Kingsley House opens at 929 Tchoupitoulas as a part of the parish work of Trinity Episcopal Church, under the guidance of Dr. Beverley Warner, rector.
1900: Kingsley House moves to 1202 Annunciation Street. Under the head resident, Miss Katherine Hardy, Miss Eleanor McMain becomes a resident worker.
1901: The Kingsley House library is founded by the Sunshine Society. The night program begins with a class of four pupils. Dr. Warner appoints Miss Eleanor McMain head resident.
1902: On November 18 Kingsley House is severed from Trinity Church and becomes independently incorporated with a non-sectarian Board of Directors, Dr. Beverley Warner being elected president.
1903: Dr. Samuel Logan opens a clinic for women and children at Kingsley House. The first Kingsley House summer school opens.
1904: The Kingsley House playground opens on Constance Street, Dr. George S. Brown and Mrs. Maggie Collins, a member of the Kingsley House Woman's Club, join the nationwide fight against tuberculosis. Miss Eleanor McMain and a Tulane University student, John K. Towles, make a survey of the housing conditions of the neighborhood.
1905: Kingsley House closes because of the Yellow Fever epidemic. The neighbors and workers of Kingsley House join in the fight to rid New Orleans of the epidemic.
1906: Kingsley House joins in the campaign for child labor laws.
1907: The Kingsley House Board approves the plan for "Fresh Air Colony," the first Kingsley House summer camp at Lewisburg, Louisiana. The camp is destroyed by a hurricane.
1909: "Camp Onward" opens at Baywood, Y.M.C.A quarters at DeBuys, Mississippi.
1910: November 27, Dr. Warner's death. Rabbi I. L. Leucht of Touro Synagogue is elected president of Kingsley House.
1911: Classes for the sight impaired are opened by Mr. Tom Slough, who was blinded by an accident. As a result of theses classes the Lighthouse for the Blind was founded in 1916.
1914: The Tulane School of Social Work is organized under the leadership of Kingsley House residents. June 4, Rabbi Leucht's death. Mr. Warren Kearny becomes president of the Kingsley House Board.
1916: The property at 1202 Annunciation Street is purchased for Kingsley House by Mr. Sim Weis.
1917: The new "Camp Onward" opens at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
1920: Miss McMain receives The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for distinguished civic service to the city of New Orleans.
1924: The deed to the property at 1600 Constance Street and funds for building at our present location are given to Kingsley House by Mr. and Mrs. Frank B. Williams.
1925: May 26 - The formal opening of Kingsley House and the New Orleans Day Nursery is held at our present home. Kingsley House joins the Community Chest (now the United Way) as a charter member.
1941: The St. Thomas Housing Development is opened.
1952: The United Fund (to be United Way) was organized and Kingsley House played an active part in this effort of organized giving and shared aims.
1957: Swimming pools are opened at Kingsley House and Camp Onward.
1964: Kingsley House is the first agency in New Orleans to integrate its programs.
1967: Head Start Preschool classrooms were built and Kingsley House buildings were joined.
1985: The first Family Preservation Services program in the South is started at Kingsley House.
1996: Year-long Centennial Celebration! Construction began on major expansion and renovation of facilities.
1998: Kingsley House establishes the River Parishes Family Resource Center in LaPlace, serving the families of St. John the Baptist, St. James and St. Charles parishes.
August 29, 2005: Hurricane Katrina destroyed communities along the Gulf Coast and caused $3.5 million in damages to Kingsley House's historic buildings and programs.
September 30, 2005: Work begins on repairs to the Kingsley House campus.
October 15, 2005: Kingsley House reopened with a core staff of 30, less than one-third of pre-Katrina staff numbers. Kingsley House establishes the Gulf Coast's first Resettlement and Recovery Center, providing outreach and support to over 2,500 families within the first few months after Katrina.
November 2005: Kingsley House forms unprecedented partnership with several of the largest human services organizations in the Greater New Orleans area to meet the needs of returning and continually displaced residents throughout Southeast Louisiana.
December 1, 2005: Kingsley House is the first child care center to reopen in New Orleans and the first Adult Day Health Care and Senior Center to reopen in the city.
March 2006: Kingsley House is the first social and human services agency in New Orleans to complete all of its storm-related repairs and resume full operations.
May 12, 2006: Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton visit Kingsley House and recognize the vital work of the agency in recovery and resettlement.
October 2006: Kingsley House opens satellite office on the West Bank to assist relocated and continually displaced families with Medicaid and Food Stamp enrollment, as well as mental health counseling and support services.
January 2008: Kingsley House establishes a satellite office in New Orleans East, providing much needed health care outreach and mental health counseling to an area of the city that continues to struggle toward recovery.
Today: Kingsley House continues to lead the non-profit sector in efforts to stabilize our community and to provide essential services to individuals and families as they rebuild their lives.
