THE CURATORS’ QUADERNO - Issue 8 Girls in the Innocenti Archive

Restoring the identity tokens of female foundling children at the Innocenti Institute whose historic archive is in Florence.

PRESS ON THE IMAGE TO FLIP THROUGH

The Innocenti Hospital’s historical archive in Florence comprises more than 13,000 documents and objects from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, including ‘tokens’ that parents left with their foundling children, as proof of identity. Located in the ancient refectory, the archive hosts one of the world’s most unique archival collections, that of the city’s foundling children – mostly girls.

In a multi-faceted research and restoration project, curators and conservators discover, restore and digitize touching mementos, from 1900 to 1921, a time of great change for women known as ‘the hidden pregnant’. It uncovers a world where girls were seen as an expense not a resource, and tells the story of history’s forgotten – its children… starting with little girls.

This issue is published in conjunction with the Innocenti Institute in Florence, for the project ‘Girls in the Innocenti Archives’ and the museum exhibit of the same name (13 November to March 15, 2025) at the Innocenti Museum. The project was created as a partnership between the Innocenti Institute and the Calliope Arts Foundation, thanks to the generous support of donors Connie and Doug Clark and Margie MacKinnon and Wayne McArdle. 

What is tcq? The Curators’ Quaderno is a collection of notebook-style publications, conceived by the Calliope Arts Foundation, in collaboration with The Florentine Press, to raise awareness of women’s contributions to the fields of art, science and culture.

Subscribe to The Florentine to find upcoming issues of the publication included for free quarterly. Non-subscribers can purchase the notebook here.