The mission of the home was to raise orphans and abandoned children in a Lutheran home where they would learn the "true Word of God" and be confirmed in the Lutheran Church.
”The Lutheran Brewer
The longest established period of occupation on the Brook Farm site was that of a Lutheran Orphanage, which existed between 1871 and 1943. During its first 50 years, the Home cared for 378 children. Many taken in were from broken or impoverished families that could not adequately take care of the children. It was associated with the Trinity Lutheran Church and financed by affiliated benefactors and congregations. Thirty acres of land were also put aside to be used as a cemetery. The profits from which aided the orphanage in becoming economically self-sufficient.
The 180-acre lot was purchased by Gottlieb F. Burkhardt, a German master brewer committed to establishing a strong Lutheran community. The Association of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for Works of Mercy was founded by Burkhardt to oversee the home. Dedicated in 1872, it was the first Lutheran orphanage to be founded in Massachusetts.
The Home offered both academic and vocational training. The young girls were taught homemaking, such as cooking, cleaning, and sewing. The boys were expected to learn about agricultural farming in the fields and assist in growing and harvesting. They were also taught the trade of printing when a print shop was constructed, pictured on the left. The boys produced many Lutheran publications for their Home, church, and community.
The artifacts left behind from the Lutheran Home represent childhood in the late 19th and 20th centuries. From ceramic dolls and metal toy horses, to game pieces and character pins, it is evident that the children being brought up at the Home were allowed to play and socialize. The significant religious focus of the school is also represented by the Lutheran Heart pendants. Notably, the everyday functions of an orphanage supporting many children are represented by a medicine bottle.
The Lutheran Orphanage was finally closed in 1943. In 1948, the institution was reopened with a new mission as a residential treatment center for children with behavioral problems and renamed The Brook Farm Home. The buildings went through many changes during this time, but the site also endured a series of damaging fires that eventually led to the closure of the institution in 1974.
