b. January 18, 1917 New Haven, CT
d. November 5, 1970 Southbury, CT
Age 3 - 1920 Federal Census - Living with family at #559 Quinnipiac Ave, Dwelling #7, New Haven, CT.
It is our understanding that Valerie developed some kind of illness (fever maybe?) and after that she had reduced functioning. She was living with the Blake family in East Haven, CT at least through the 1940 census.
In 1942 she became pregnant. In 1943 she went to St. Agnes Home for unwed mothers in West Hartford, CT to give birth to her baby girl. The father remains unknown. To the best of our knowledge her daughter was put into state care immediately.
St. Agnes Home was founded in 1914 and, per this article in the NY Times, is still helping unwed mothers. The second link is to St. Agnes' website - this year is their 100th anniversary.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20071022monday.html
http://stagneshome.org/
The family has told us that Valerie lived most of her life at Southbury Training School in Southbury, CT. Per the Wikepedia page:
"Southbury Training School is a large residential facility in the towns of Southbury and Roxbury, Connecticut. It was built in the 1930s as a large state-funded and state-operated residential and habilitative facility for adults with intellectual disabilities. It consists of 125 buildings situated on a campus of 1,600 acres."
The interesting thing is my mother was placed with a foster family in the next town over from Southbury. She lived with this one family for pretty much as far back as she could remember. So, although she was unaware, she lived in very close proximity to her mother for many years. I didn't find the Blake family until the 1990's - which was unfortunately after Valerie had passed.
Valerie, Ruth & Irene Blake
In this undated picture Valerie looks just like my Mom
(Picture from our cousin Jean)
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