This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/16/2023
Offered is a handsome Father Flanagan signed studio portait with the inscription "Boys Town, Nebr." just below his name. After serving as a parish priest in the Catholic Diocese of Omaha, Nebraska, he founded the orphanage and educational complex known as Boys Town. Boys Town grew to be a large community with its own boy-mayor, schools, chapel, post office, cottages, gymnasium, and other facilities. Boys between the ages of 10 and 16 could receive an education here and learn a trade. Flanagan did not believe in the reform school model, which he thought too punitive, and stated famously, "there's no such thing as a bad boy". Charles Manson was a member of the school for a short time when in 1949 a sympathetic judge sent him to Boys Town. After four days at Boys Town, Manson and fellow student Blackie Nielson obtained a gun and stole a car. Apparently there may have been such a thing as a bad boy, after all. There are several Manson signed pieces in this auction. The Father Flanagan signed photo is accompanied by an LOA from James Spence Authentication and presents with some areas of cracking and distress a the top and bottom, but none of them disract from the strong image of Flanagan. Excellent condition.