BOYS TOWN

village, Douglas county, eastern Nebraska, U.S. Dedicated to homeless boys, it was established (1917) in Omaha by Father Edward J. Flanagan and was later moved 10 miles (16 km) west to its present location on the western edge of the city. The community, which now covers 1,500 acres (600 hectares), with a farm, Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, riding stables, a sports complex, and a campus for 1,000 children, became a village in 1936. It is governed by the children and is maintained by voluntary contributions. Girls began to be admitted in small numbers as members of Boys Town beginning in 1979. Both boys and girls attend regular classes and are taught a variety of vocational skills. Boys Town's combination of discipline, instruction, and affectionate supervision by staff members has proven effective in raising and rehabilitating homeless or troubled children. Boys Town's continuous growth led in the 1980s to the creation of two satellite residential centres in Florida (Tallahassee and Orlando), one in San Antonio, Texas, and others elsewhere in the United States. The original institution first received widespread attention after a motion picture, Boys Town, starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney, was made in 1938. Inc. 1936. Pop. (1990) 794; (1994 est.) 871.