Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • F A L L 2 0 2 2 42 or steam-powered kitchen, or working at the pro- duction and mechanical centers. There was also a farm to tend, complete with cows and chickens, as well as an orchard of fruit trees. Older children could be sent out to nearby farms, ranches, or houses to work as indentured servants for the families or to be a tradesman's apprentice. THE GREAT DEPRESSION & WORLD WAR TWO As the hopelessness of the Great Depression grew, more parents decided to commit their children to the care of places like the Montana State Orphan- age. Most children at the state orphanage at this time weren't orphans but kids whose parents felt there was no better option for them. Sometimes all the kids in a family were sent to Twin Bridges and had the companionship of their siblings. Other chil- dren were the only ones sent away, left to face a par- ticular kind of loneliness. During this time, the population of the orphan- age peaked at around 300 children. The orphanage was described as "mostly self-sufficient,, which is all well and good until you factor in the child labor that it took to keep it functioning. During my research, I read words like "inmate" and "institution" repeatedly, which seem like harsh words to use in reference to children who had no say in their incarceration. Noel Freedman published the diary he kept from 1942 through 1945, the last of seven years he spent there, which includes more elaborate recol- lections as well as each daily entry. This offers valuable in- sight into the daily activities of a kid in the orphanage. He recorded the weekly movies they went to see, his dislike of Bette Davis, and noted "……chaaaaaaarge!" on the day they watched Arsenic and Old Lace. He recorded the good things, like Christmas presents provided by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, every time he had a piece of candy, games the children played and yearly visits from his mom. The bad is equally represented, as there was an endless stream of chores, children being whipped and yelled at by staff, death by rattlesnake bites, and disease. Most Children AT THE STATE ORPHANAGE DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION WEREN'T ORPHANS BUT KIDS WHOSE PARENTS FELT THERE WAS NO BETTER OPTION FOR THEM.

• Cover