INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK

30 AUGUST 2000
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MILESTONES

‘The Children Have Spoken’
Boys Town Changes Name to Include its Girl Residents

Amid a shower of confetti, Father Val Peter, right, 
announces to residents of Boys Town in Omaha, Neb.,
 the extension of the “Boys Town” name to “Girls and 
Boys Town.” (Nati Harnik/AP Photo)

In a shower of confetti and balloons, Boys Town officials announced today that residents had approved a name change for the home for troubled youth — to Girls and Boys Town. 

Nearly seven of every 10 residents voted in favor of the name extension, intended to reflect the growing role that young girls now play at the home made famous by the Oscar-winning 1938 Spencer Tracy movie. Ballots were distributed Wednesday to the home’s 1,000 residents at all 18 sites from California to New England, including the 500 youths at the main Boys Town campus west of Omaha. 

The 83-year-old institution announced last week that it would ask its residents to vote on the proposed name change. “The children have spoken!” the Rev. Val Peter shouted to nearly 900 residents, staff members and supporters attending today’s announcement. “To all of the girls of America and the boys of America, I would implore: Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive.” 

Girls Come First 
When the Rev. Edward Flanagan started the home for wayward boys in 1917, girls were not included in the original charter because of the common belief at the time that girls could be adopted more quickly than troublesome boys. The home was at first called Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys. The residents voted to change the name to Boys Town in 1926. 

The first girls were admitted to Boys Town in 1979, when five were enrolled. Today, girls make up nearly half of residents. Peter said girls were first in the new name because officials didn’t want to divide the words “boys” and “town.” The name of the incorporated village of Boys Town, Neb., will not change.

Report by Margery Beck The Associated Press August 24 2000 

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