Series of the Conseil des Hospices et Secours, Archives C

Collection description

Collection

Country:: Belgium

Holding institution:: PCSW Brussels, Archives and Museum Department

Holding institution (official language):: CPAS de Bruxelles, Service Archives et Musée

Postal address:: Rue Haute 289a / Hoogstraat 298a, 1000 Bruxelles

Phone number:: +32 (0)2 543 60 59

Web address:: http://www.cpasbru.irisnet.be

Email:: archives@cpasbru.irisnet.be

Reference number:: PCSW-Brussels-Cote C

Title:: Series of the Conseil des Hospices et Secours, Archives C

Title (official language):: Série du Conseil des Hospices et Secours, Fonds Cote C

Creator/accumulator:: Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn van Brussel; Centre Public d’Action Sociale de Bruxelles

Date(s):: 1796/1850

Extent:: ca. 200 linear metres

Scope and content:: In this fonds we note the bundle C 644 folder 9, titled “Destitute Jews” (1830-1936). This file consists of correspondence between the Regency of the city of Brussels and the Communauté israélite de Bruxelles and lists of destitute Jews (mentioning name, first name, age, place of birth, address, profession, and number of family members).

Administrative/biographical history:: The public organisation of poor relief dates from the French Revolution. During the French period various laws regulated the supervision of charities by the municipalities. After Belgian independence, local (especially the Gemeentewet of 1836) and to a lesser extent national laws played a role in the organisation of local poor relief, as they had done before. Following the law of 10 March 1925 the burelen van weldadigheid and the commissions of the burgerlijke godshuizen, the forerunners of the later COOs and OCMWs, were replaced by so-called Commissies van Openbare Onderstand / Commissions d’Assistance Publique (COO). It was not only their task to provide assistance to the needy, but also to prevent poverty. Important evolutions include the gradual introduction of a minimum income – from the guaranteed income for the elderly (1969) to the formal recognition for the right to a minimum income (1974). In 1976 the Openbare Centra voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn (OCMW)/Centre Public d’Aide Sociale (CPAS) (Public Centre for Social Welfare) succeeded the COOs. Its responsibilities were expanded; since then they have also included social, medical and psychological assistance. The same law also established the right to social assistance. OCMWs are managed by a social welfare council, of which the members are selected by the municipal council. This council elects a president and bureau. Between municipality and OCMW there is a consultative committee. Following the constitutional reform of 1980, the communities were made responsible for social welfare. In 1993 the organic law regarding the OCMWs became a competence of the communities. The respective communities have since issued decrees regarding the organisation of the CPAS/OCMWs. In French-speaking Belgium, since 2002, CPAS stands for Centre Public d’Action Sociale. The series of sources in the archives of the OCMWs and their predecessors are partly similar to those of municipal archives. We notably find minutes of meetings, annual reports, budgets, accounts and various bookkeeping records, ledgers related to real estate, documents regarding renting and leasing etc. Those looking for information on individuals should consult, notably, the lists of destitute individuals and the later series of individual files and ‘social files’. Furthermore we mention subject files, e.g. regarding the organisation and management of various institutions (hospitals, maternity homes, orphanages, nursing homes). OCMW archives are of great importance for the study of social and socio-economic history in general, and in particular for the study of medicine, health care, certain vulnerable groups within society etc. (P. van den Eeckhout, “De gemeenten en de lokale openbare instellingen”, in P. van den Eeckhout & G. Vanthemsche (ed.), Bronnen voor de studie van het hedendaagse België 19e – 21e eeuw. Tweede herziene en uitgebreide uitgave, Brussel, Koninklijke Commissie voor Geschiedenis / Commission Royale d’Histoire, 2009, pp. 31-92.)

Access points: locations:: Brussels

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Correspondence; Poverty; Vital records

Finding aids:: F. C. Wouters, Inventaire des archives des Commissions des hospices civils et de bienfaisance, unpublished, 1842.

Yerusha Network member:: State Archives of Belgium

fullscreen: Series of the Conseil des Hospices et Secours, Archives C

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