Seattle's oldest charity, the Seattle Children's Home, originated as the Ladies' Relief Society in April 1884 to aid orphaned children. In the 1930s, the home shifted its emphasis from orphans to troubled children. Beginning in the 1980s, it provided comprehensive treatment and services to troubled youth. In 2012, Seattle Children's Home merged with Navos, one of the largest providers of community mental health services in Washington State.

This notebook, titled "Minute Book of the Trustees for the Home for Orphans and Friendless," includes minutes from a meeting on September 28, 1886, during which the trustees transferred property from Mercer's addition in North Seattle to the trustees of the Ladies Relief Society. This was likely the property on Queen Anne Hill where one of the Seattle Children's Home houses run by the Ladies Relief Society were built. The notebook does not contain any further meeting minutes but includes, interspersed throughout otherwise blank pages, lists of baby names and birth dates between 1908 and 1910.

Transcription of minutes:
Seattle, W.T. Sep. 28th 1886
Meeting of the Trustees of the Home For Orphans and Friendless.
Members present: D.T. Denny, Wm. M. Morse, J. N. Johnson and D.B. Ward.
On motion the following resolution was adopted. Resolved. That the Chairman and Secretary of the Board be and they are hereby authorized to transfer the following described property of the Home For Orphans and Friendless to wit: The South 1/2 of Block Twenty (20) of Mercer's addition to North Seattle to the trustees or legal representatives of the Ladies Relief Society of Seattle.
Dillis B Ward
Sec'ty Pro Tem

Caption information source: "Seattle Children's Home," by Dave Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 3399