Boys Town: A Photographic History

Book Overview

A recounting of the 1917 founding of Boys Town by Father Edward J. Flanagan, an immigrant Irish priest, to the Home's present-day growth and expansion nationwide. The book recounts Father Flanagan's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0938510312
• ISBN13: 9780938510314
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Father Flanagan Boys Home
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.0" x 0.5" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

He ain't heavy, Father... he's m' brother

My title comes from one of the two well known slogans from Father Flanagan, founder of Boy's Town. The other is "There's no such thing as a bad boy." Neither motto originated with him, but he became so identified with them that they became virtually synonymous with Boys Town. The former slogan, slightly retitled, became a popular song by The Hollies, and the latter became known overnight as a result of the 1938 movie, Boys Town, starring Mickey Rooney, with Spencer Tracy as Father Flanagan. The real story, however, is the stuff of Hollywood. How in 1917, in the midst of the crushing poverty that followed in the wake of the first world war, a Catholic Priest borrowed 90 bucks from his Jewish friend to start a house for homeless boys without regard for race or creed, and that which from the first included a Protestant chapel. "There's no such thing as a bad boy" wasn't a statement to be argued but an observation he felt literally true, as he watched kids steal to get shoes or bread, or be farmed out by well- meaning families too broke to support them. For the next decades his vision was carried out by his successors. School was followed by vocational training to ensure graduates left with at least "two strikes in their favor". As did so many things, that all changed in the '60s, when the boys arriving were not orphans in the sense of having no living parents, but rather what then director, Father Hupp referred to as "social orphans". "For many of them, Lonnborg writes, "family life had been eroded by abuse, poverty, drugs, alchoholism, or divorce". After that Boys Town changed from dormitories to a "Family- teacher" model. Later, girls also joined the Town (but voted to still call it 'Boys Town'). Boys Towns began springing up all over the nation in an attempt to replicate the successful environment. Critics charge that the feel- good film shares little with current realities. Arguably, the current versions may be bogged down in the current affairs that afflict all once visionary agencies: taxes, lawsuits, insurance, scandals and would-be scandals, and a host of other organizational woes unknown in the early days. Maybe. This biopic is unashamedly yes man (or yes woman). There isn't a hint of complaint or criticism in its 144 oversize, photo- drenched pages. But there are enough individual success stories that I'd like to think that some of those one- time orphans and successful Town grads are at the helm of at least some of these Townships. Their ranks bulged with soliders and sailors, business men, teachers, religious leaders, athletic achievers, workers in every trade, as they left with mastery in baking, barbering, farming, shoe repair, auto mechanics, electronics, and other solid skills. From the bottom of the class they rose to navigate the nation. How many must have returned home, to Boys Town, to inspire character, to encourage success, as a living witness of the way out? How many must have picked up the new, young orphans, and hoisted

I live in Omaha

I think this book reflects the essence of what Boys Town stands for. The organization has helped so many boys, and now girls too. I recomend it to everyone.