Buckner Orphans' Home Collection

In the 1870s, Tennessee native Dr. Robert Cook Buckner began advocating for the establishment of a home in Northeast Texas to care for and educate orphan children. As editor of The Texas Baptist, Buckner used every issue to plead for support. In 1877, at the annual Baptist Deacon's Convention in Paris, Texas, one-hundred deacons voted unanimously to establish a home in Dallas, Texas. The deacons named Buckner as superintendant and fundraising efforts began. In the fall of 1879, with Buckner contributing the final $800 to the fundraising efforts, the orphans' home was established in a rented three-room cottage in Dallas. The following year, Buckner Orphans' Home moved to a forty-four acre location in Dallas, where a portion of their operations remain to this day.

Buckner Orphans' Home, now called Buckner Children's Home, housed more than 350 children by 1900 and continued to grow and evolve throughout the twentieth century in response to drastic changes in America's social climate. In the 1970s, Buckner established locations throughout Texas and developed services for the elderly and unwed mothers. The single orphans' home established by Dr. Buckner is now a worldwide organization known as Buckner International; a global ministry dedicated to providing care and resources for orphans and at-risk children.