Throwback Thursday: Practice babies

We had an inquiry a few weeks ago about a former "practice baby" in the Home Economics program. While high school students today often get to spend a weekend taking care of an "infant simulator" that cries and demands attention, Seton Hill students of the past had the opportunity to care for real children.

Babies from an orphanage would be "lent" to the college for a period of time to be taken care of in the "practice house" (present-day crime scene house) by several college students under the supervision of the faculty.

The babies would then return to the orphanage and would go on to be adopted in the usual way.

While this practice would likely be considered detrimental today due to the large number of caregivers, "scientifically-cared for" babies were apparently in some demand by adoptive families.