Edward Rohs and Judith Estrine
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823240227
- eISBN:
- 9780823240265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823240227.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter is an overview of the world of the Catholic orphanage system into which Ed Rohs was placed. It opens with a comparison between the fantasies of Hollywood's orphans and the reality of ...
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This chapter is an overview of the world of the Catholic orphanage system into which Ed Rohs was placed. It opens with a comparison between the fantasies of Hollywood's orphans and the reality of life in an orphanage. The chapter describes how, until the 1960s, the Catholic orphanage system operated a silo system of childcare, separating boys and girls by age and gender. Children lived in an institution until they aged out and were sent on to the next home. Although in some ways their experiences were similar to the experiences of so-called “army brats” who endured frequent dislocations with their families, the important difference between the population of orphans who were moved and those of children born and raised by army personnel lay in the absence of consistent parent figures. With each move, institutionalized children were assigned to be supervised by different individuals—strangers to whom they had to adjust. After being discharged from the system at 18 (Ed Rohs remained until 19) some succumbed to a life of drugs and drug-related crimes but others, like Ed, overcame adversities.Less
This chapter is an overview of the world of the Catholic orphanage system into which Ed Rohs was placed. It opens with a comparison between the fantasies of Hollywood's orphans and the reality of life in an orphanage. The chapter describes how, until the 1960s, the Catholic orphanage system operated a silo system of childcare, separating boys and girls by age and gender. Children lived in an institution until they aged out and were sent on to the next home. Although in some ways their experiences were similar to the experiences of so-called “army brats” who endured frequent dislocations with their families, the important difference between the population of orphans who were moved and those of children born and raised by army personnel lay in the absence of consistent parent figures. With each move, institutionalized children were assigned to be supervised by different individuals—strangers to whom they had to adjust. After being discharged from the system at 18 (Ed Rohs remained until 19) some succumbed to a life of drugs and drug-related crimes but others, like Ed, overcame adversities.
Owen White and J.P. Daughton (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195396447
- eISBN:
- 9780199979318
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195396447.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion, World Modern History
A collection of thirteen chapters by leading scholars in the field, this book examines the complex ways in which the spread of Christianity by French men and women shaped local communities, French ...
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A collection of thirteen chapters by leading scholars in the field, this book examines the complex ways in which the spread of Christianity by French men and women shaped local communities, French national prowess, and global politics in the two centuries following the French Revolution. More than a story of religious proselytism, missionary activity was an essential feature of French contact and interaction with local populations. In many parts of the world, missionaries were the first French men and women to work and live among indigenous societies. For all the celebration of France’s secular “civilizing mission,” it was more often than not religious workers who actually fulfilled the daily tasks of running schools, hospitals, and orphanages. While their work was often tied to small villages, missionaries’ interactions had geopolitical implications. Focusing on many regions—from the Ottoman Empire and the United States to Indochina and the Pacific Ocean—this book explores how France used missionaries’ long connections with local communities as a means of political influence and justification for colonial expansion. This book offers readers both an overview of the major historical dimensions of the French evangelical enterprise, as well as an introduction to the theoretical and methodological challenges of placing French missionary work within the context of European, colonial, and religious history.Less
A collection of thirteen chapters by leading scholars in the field, this book examines the complex ways in which the spread of Christianity by French men and women shaped local communities, French national prowess, and global politics in the two centuries following the French Revolution. More than a story of religious proselytism, missionary activity was an essential feature of French contact and interaction with local populations. In many parts of the world, missionaries were the first French men and women to work and live among indigenous societies. For all the celebration of France’s secular “civilizing mission,” it was more often than not religious workers who actually fulfilled the daily tasks of running schools, hospitals, and orphanages. While their work was often tied to small villages, missionaries’ interactions had geopolitical implications. Focusing on many regions—from the Ottoman Empire and the United States to Indochina and the Pacific Ocean—this book explores how France used missionaries’ long connections with local communities as a means of political influence and justification for colonial expansion. This book offers readers both an overview of the major historical dimensions of the French evangelical enterprise, as well as an introduction to the theoretical and methodological challenges of placing French missionary work within the context of European, colonial, and religious history.
Ian J. Shaw
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250776
- eISBN:
- 9780191600739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250774.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Andrew Reed was called to the New Road Independent Chapel in the East End of London in 1811. Moving from an early adherence to high Calvinism into evangelical Calvinism, his pastoral ministry saw ...
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Andrew Reed was called to the New Road Independent Chapel in the East End of London in 1811. Moving from an early adherence to high Calvinism into evangelical Calvinism, his pastoral ministry saw great success. The church was rebuilt in 1831 on a nearby site as Wycliffe Chapel to accommodate the growing congregation. Reed was active in a range of political causes of concern to conscientious Dissenters, including that of education, but his most notable activity was in the realm of social concern: he helped found three orphanages, a home for mentally handicapped children, and the Royal Hospital for Incurables. He believed that humanitarian compassion should override sectarian divisions, an approach facilitated by his evangelical Calvinism.Less
Andrew Reed was called to the New Road Independent Chapel in the East End of London in 1811. Moving from an early adherence to high Calvinism into evangelical Calvinism, his pastoral ministry saw great success. The church was rebuilt in 1831 on a nearby site as Wycliffe Chapel to accommodate the growing congregation. Reed was active in a range of political causes of concern to conscientious Dissenters, including that of education, but his most notable activity was in the realm of social concern: he helped found three orphanages, a home for mentally handicapped children, and the Royal Hospital for Incurables. He believed that humanitarian compassion should override sectarian divisions, an approach facilitated by his evangelical Calvinism.
Abby Burnett
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781628461114
- eISBN:
- 9781626740624
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628461114.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Culture
The role played by the fraternal lodges (Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, etc.) is described, as many of these organizations had, as part of their creeds, burial of the dead and aiding ...
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The role played by the fraternal lodges (Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, etc.) is described, as many of these organizations had, as part of their creeds, burial of the dead and aiding widows and orphans. To this end, many lodges established widows’ homes and orphanages and set up burial insurance plans for members. African Americans, denied access to whites’ hospitals and burial insurance, founded fraternal lodges to provide these services to members. Many of these organizations, founded in Arkansas, flourished outside the state until the Depression. This chapter discusses some of the many ways life has changed since the days when the dead were buried by members of their community.Less
The role played by the fraternal lodges (Masons, Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, etc.) is described, as many of these organizations had, as part of their creeds, burial of the dead and aiding widows and orphans. To this end, many lodges established widows’ homes and orphanages and set up burial insurance plans for members. African Americans, denied access to whites’ hospitals and burial insurance, founded fraternal lodges to provide these services to members. Many of these organizations, founded in Arkansas, flourished outside the state until the Depression. This chapter discusses some of the many ways life has changed since the days when the dead were buried by members of their community.
OWEN WHITE
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208198
- eISBN:
- 9780191677946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208198.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter examines the thinking which led to the creation of special homes for mÉtis children deemed to have been abandoned by their parents, set up first by missionaries, and by the colonial ...
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This chapter examines the thinking which led to the creation of special homes for mÉtis children deemed to have been abandoned by their parents, set up first by missionaries, and by the colonial administration itself. It discusses the factors which figured the actions and attitudes of French men, showing how these actions and attitudes help us to know the lives of the mixed-race population of French West Africa.Less
This chapter examines the thinking which led to the creation of special homes for mÉtis children deemed to have been abandoned by their parents, set up first by missionaries, and by the colonial administration itself. It discusses the factors which figured the actions and attitudes of French men, showing how these actions and attitudes help us to know the lives of the mixed-race population of French West Africa.
OWEN WHITE
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208198
- eISBN:
- 9780191677946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208198.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter focuses on the education offered to mÉtis children in the orphanages, and the type of employment they were encouraged to follow. It provides case studies of two institutions to help ...
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This chapter focuses on the education offered to mÉtis children in the orphanages, and the type of employment they were encouraged to follow. It provides case studies of two institutions to help illuminate the lives of the children brought up in the orphanages.Less
This chapter focuses on the education offered to mÉtis children in the orphanages, and the type of employment they were encouraged to follow. It provides case studies of two institutions to help illuminate the lives of the children brought up in the orphanages.
Edward Rohs and Judith Estrine
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823240227
- eISBN:
- 9780823240265
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823240227.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Social History
In the wake of war, famine, and an influx of impoverished immigrants, in the early 1800s an illiterate army of vagrant children coalesced in New York City. Seldom numbering fewer than ten thousand in ...
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In the wake of war, famine, and an influx of impoverished immigrants, in the early 1800s an illiterate army of vagrant children coalesced in New York City. Seldom numbering fewer than ten thousand in any year they were known as “Street Arabs”. Some became newsboys—”newsies”—a prominent part of the urban landscape and victims of some of the worst child labor laws in the country. Very young boys (and occasionally girls) hawked papers for a penny and suffered homelessness, harassment, muggings, long hours, and uncertain weather. In 1899 they struck several NYC newspapers and won a significant, if symbolic, victory. The chapter also describes the indentured child movement. Indentured minors were legally bound to farmers, tradesmen, and artisans until they were legally emancipated at 18; the “orphan trains” that shipped thousands of urban children to rural locations in the Midwest; and the growth of public orphanages, with those being built in New York City acting as the template for institutions built around the country.Less
In the wake of war, famine, and an influx of impoverished immigrants, in the early 1800s an illiterate army of vagrant children coalesced in New York City. Seldom numbering fewer than ten thousand in any year they were known as “Street Arabs”. Some became newsboys—”newsies”—a prominent part of the urban landscape and victims of some of the worst child labor laws in the country. Very young boys (and occasionally girls) hawked papers for a penny and suffered homelessness, harassment, muggings, long hours, and uncertain weather. In 1899 they struck several NYC newspapers and won a significant, if symbolic, victory. The chapter also describes the indentured child movement. Indentured minors were legally bound to farmers, tradesmen, and artisans until they were legally emancipated at 18; the “orphan trains” that shipped thousands of urban children to rural locations in the Midwest; and the growth of public orphanages, with those being built in New York City acting as the template for institutions built around the country.
John E. B. Myers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195169355
- eISBN:
- 9780199893348
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169355.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
This chapter describes the era before organized child protection, which began in 1875. Prior to that date, many abused and neglected children went without protection, although there was never a time ...
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This chapter describes the era before organized child protection, which began in 1875. Prior to that date, many abused and neglected children went without protection, although there was never a time when children were completely bereft of help. Criminal law always punished brutal physical abuse and sexual assault. Early in American history, a clear distinction was not observed between child maltreatment and poverty. Local officials had authority to apprentice dependent children, some of whom were maltreated and others who were simply poor. America's first institution to care for large numbers of poor and maltreated children was the almshouses or poor house. Beginning in 1729, an alternative to the almshouse emerged, the orphanage. During the 19th century, orphanages grew in number and spread across the nation. Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, reformers argued that dependent children should not live in orphanages, but should live instead in foster homes.Less
This chapter describes the era before organized child protection, which began in 1875. Prior to that date, many abused and neglected children went without protection, although there was never a time when children were completely bereft of help. Criminal law always punished brutal physical abuse and sexual assault. Early in American history, a clear distinction was not observed between child maltreatment and poverty. Local officials had authority to apprentice dependent children, some of whom were maltreated and others who were simply poor. America's first institution to care for large numbers of poor and maltreated children was the almshouses or poor house. Beginning in 1729, an alternative to the almshouse emerged, the orphanage. During the 19th century, orphanages grew in number and spread across the nation. Beginning in the middle of the 19th century, reformers argued that dependent children should not live in orphanages, but should live instead in foster homes.
John E. B. Myers
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195169355
- eISBN:
- 9780199893348
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195169355.003.0003
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
Child protection in the 20th century can be divided into two periods, one before 1962 and one following. This chapter chronicles developments prior to 1962, including the emergence of social work as ...
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Child protection in the 20th century can be divided into two periods, one before 1962 and one following. This chapter chronicles developments prior to 1962, including the emergence of social work as a profession, the settlement movement on behalf of the poor, the child guidance movement, the pivotal 1909 White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children, and the birth in 1912 of the U.S. Children's Bureau. It describes the continuing debate over orphanage care versus foster care for children, and the gradual resolution of the issue in favor of foster care. The juvenile court plays a key role in child protection, and the chapter provides detailed analysis of the emergence of the juvenile court. Finally, the gradual transfer of child protection from non-governmental child protection societies to government-funded and -operated child protection agencies is described. The roots of today's child protection system are clearly traceable to the period prior to 1962.Less
Child protection in the 20th century can be divided into two periods, one before 1962 and one following. This chapter chronicles developments prior to 1962, including the emergence of social work as a profession, the settlement movement on behalf of the poor, the child guidance movement, the pivotal 1909 White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children, and the birth in 1912 of the U.S. Children's Bureau. It describes the continuing debate over orphanage care versus foster care for children, and the gradual resolution of the issue in favor of foster care. The juvenile court plays a key role in child protection, and the chapter provides detailed analysis of the emergence of the juvenile court. Finally, the gradual transfer of child protection from non-governmental child protection societies to government-funded and -operated child protection agencies is described. The roots of today's child protection system are clearly traceable to the period prior to 1962.
Frances Finnegan
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195174601
- eISBN:
- 9780199849901
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195174601.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The Illustrated Guide to Waterford by Edmund Downey states that the City's Magdalen Asylum (later under the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters) was originally founded in 1799. A more detailed account ...
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The Illustrated Guide to Waterford by Edmund Downey states that the City's Magdalen Asylum (later under the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters) was originally founded in 1799. A more detailed account of the Home's origins is contained in Rev. Patrick Power's History of Waterford and Lismore published in 1937. Early rescue efforts in Waterford were hampered by the limited accommodation available in Father Dowley's Refuge, and it was feared that applicants who were refused admission had returned to a life of shame. In 1994, the Waterford Good Shepherd Asylum closed, and its Convent, Chapel, Penitentiary, former Magdalen Section and Laundry buildings were sold to the Regional Technical College, now the Waterford Institute of Technology. The former occupants of the penitentiary are now, like the nuns, housed in new accommodation a few yards from their old premises. The “Orphanage” is now used as an Adult Education Centre.Less
The Illustrated Guide to Waterford by Edmund Downey states that the City's Magdalen Asylum (later under the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters) was originally founded in 1799. A more detailed account of the Home's origins is contained in Rev. Patrick Power's History of Waterford and Lismore published in 1937. Early rescue efforts in Waterford were hampered by the limited accommodation available in Father Dowley's Refuge, and it was feared that applicants who were refused admission had returned to a life of shame. In 1994, the Waterford Good Shepherd Asylum closed, and its Convent, Chapel, Penitentiary, former Magdalen Section and Laundry buildings were sold to the Regional Technical College, now the Waterford Institute of Technology. The former occupants of the penitentiary are now, like the nuns, housed in new accommodation a few yards from their old premises. The “Orphanage” is now used as an Adult Education Centre.
Jessie B. Ramey
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252036903
- eISBN:
- 9780252094422
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252036903.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This innovative study examines the development of institutional child care from 1878 to 1929, based on a comparison of two “sister” orphanages in Pittsburgh: the all-white United Presbyterian ...
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This innovative study examines the development of institutional child care from 1878 to 1929, based on a comparison of two “sister” orphanages in Pittsburgh: the all-white United Presbyterian Orphan's Home and the all-black Home for Colored Children. Drawing on quantitative analysis of the records of more than 1,500 children living at the two orphanages, as well as census data, city logs, and contemporary social science surveys, this study raises new questions about the role of child care in constructing and perpetrating social inequality in the United States.The book explores how working families shaped institutional child care. The term “child care” is used to mean assistance with the daily labor of caring for children; and specifically in the case of orphanages, parents' tactic of placing their children temporarily in institutions with the intention of retrieving them after a relatively short time. The book argues that the development of institutional child care was premised upon and rife with gender, race, and class inequities—these persistent ideologies had consequences for the evolution of social welfare and modern child care.Less
This innovative study examines the development of institutional child care from 1878 to 1929, based on a comparison of two “sister” orphanages in Pittsburgh: the all-white United Presbyterian Orphan's Home and the all-black Home for Colored Children. Drawing on quantitative analysis of the records of more than 1,500 children living at the two orphanages, as well as census data, city logs, and contemporary social science surveys, this study raises new questions about the role of child care in constructing and perpetrating social inequality in the United States.The book explores how working families shaped institutional child care. The term “child care” is used to mean assistance with the daily labor of caring for children; and specifically in the case of orphanages, parents' tactic of placing their children temporarily in institutions with the intention of retrieving them after a relatively short time. The book argues that the development of institutional child care was premised upon and rife with gender, race, and class inequities—these persistent ideologies had consequences for the evolution of social welfare and modern child care.
David M. Pomfret
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780804795173
- eISBN:
- 9780804796866
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804795173.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Chapter 9 ‘Raising Eurasia’ shows that as Europeans used didactic visions of childhood to draw boundaries more firmly around themselves this only served to make the ‘problem’ of the Eurasian child ...
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Chapter 9 ‘Raising Eurasia’ shows that as Europeans used didactic visions of childhood to draw boundaries more firmly around themselves this only served to make the ‘problem’ of the Eurasian child more visible. The ambiguous, crisis-ridden figure of the Eurasian child formed a counterpoint to ideals of the child as a symbolically coherent, discontinuous presence. Eurasian children compromised efforts to yoke dichotomous, racialised models of childhood and youth to hierarchies of power. They raised powerful questions of imperial responsibility. Age proved critical to the quite different responses to these questions elaborated in British and French-governed centres to the end of the period.Less
Chapter 9 ‘Raising Eurasia’ shows that as Europeans used didactic visions of childhood to draw boundaries more firmly around themselves this only served to make the ‘problem’ of the Eurasian child more visible. The ambiguous, crisis-ridden figure of the Eurasian child formed a counterpoint to ideals of the child as a symbolically coherent, discontinuous presence. Eurasian children compromised efforts to yoke dichotomous, racialised models of childhood and youth to hierarchies of power. They raised powerful questions of imperial responsibility. Age proved critical to the quite different responses to these questions elaborated in British and French-governed centres to the end of the period.
Megan Birk
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039249
- eISBN:
- 9780252097294
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039249.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
From 1870 until after World War I, reformers led an effort to place children from orphanages, asylums, and children's homes with farming families. The farmers received free labor in return for ...
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From 1870 until after World War I, reformers led an effort to place children from orphanages, asylums, and children's homes with farming families. The farmers received free labor in return for providing room and board. Reformers, meanwhile, believed children learned lessons in family life, citizenry, and work habits that institutions simply could not provide. Drawing on institution records, correspondence from children and placement families, and state reports, this book scrutinizes how the farm system developed—and how the children involved may have become some of America's last indentured laborers. Between 1850 and 1900, up to one-third of farm homes contained children from outside the family. The book reveals how the nostalgia attached to misplaced perceptions about healthy, family-based labor masked the realities of abuse, overwork, and loveless upbringings endemic in the system. It also considers how rural people cared for their own children while being bombarded with dependents from elsewhere. Finally, the book traces how the ills associated with rural placement eventually forced reformers to transition to a system of paid foster care, adoptions, and family preservation.Less
From 1870 until after World War I, reformers led an effort to place children from orphanages, asylums, and children's homes with farming families. The farmers received free labor in return for providing room and board. Reformers, meanwhile, believed children learned lessons in family life, citizenry, and work habits that institutions simply could not provide. Drawing on institution records, correspondence from children and placement families, and state reports, this book scrutinizes how the farm system developed—and how the children involved may have become some of America's last indentured laborers. Between 1850 and 1900, up to one-third of farm homes contained children from outside the family. The book reveals how the nostalgia attached to misplaced perceptions about healthy, family-based labor masked the realities of abuse, overwork, and loveless upbringings endemic in the system. It also considers how rural people cared for their own children while being bombarded with dependents from elsewhere. Finally, the book traces how the ills associated with rural placement eventually forced reformers to transition to a system of paid foster care, adoptions, and family preservation.
Cynthia Russett
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195322606
- eISBN:
- 9780199914555
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195322606.003.0014
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
This chapter traces the history of adoption in America. It covers adoption in early America, the rise of the orphanage, the emergence of the adoption agency system, adoption practice following World ...
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This chapter traces the history of adoption in America. It covers adoption in early America, the rise of the orphanage, the emergence of the adoption agency system, adoption practice following World War II, and gay and lesbian adoption. American adoption is a story intimately linked to larger social changes over three centuries. Once thought of as little laborers, children increasingly became cherished for themselves. Once imagined as a single model, family structure bent and reshaped itself to the winds of change. We now have families with stepchildren, with half-brothers and half-sisters and blends of both; families with children and parents of different races and colors, families with two mothers, and families with two fathers. Adoption has always been a kind of front line of social change in reimagining the family, the place where change has been most evident, most scrutinized, and most controversial. Over time, it has helped to lead the way to acceptance of a diversity of family forms.Less
This chapter traces the history of adoption in America. It covers adoption in early America, the rise of the orphanage, the emergence of the adoption agency system, adoption practice following World War II, and gay and lesbian adoption. American adoption is a story intimately linked to larger social changes over three centuries. Once thought of as little laborers, children increasingly became cherished for themselves. Once imagined as a single model, family structure bent and reshaped itself to the winds of change. We now have families with stepchildren, with half-brothers and half-sisters and blends of both; families with children and parents of different races and colors, families with two mothers, and families with two fathers. Adoption has always been a kind of front line of social change in reimagining the family, the place where change has been most evident, most scrutinized, and most controversial. Over time, it has helped to lead the way to acceptance of a diversity of family forms.
Edward Rohs
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823240227
- eISBN:
- 9780823240265
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823240227.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This book chronicles the extraordinary life of Ed Rohs, a bright, mischievous boy who was raised in five institutions of the Catholic orphanage system in postwar Brooklyn, New York, from infancy in ...
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This book chronicles the extraordinary life of Ed Rohs, a bright, mischievous boy who was raised in five institutions of the Catholic orphanage system in postwar Brooklyn, New York, from infancy in 1946 until he was discharged as an adult in 1965. In 1946 Edward Rohs was left by his unwed parents at the Angel Guardian Home to be raised by the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters hoped that the parents would return for him. In time they married and had other children, but they never came back for him. And they never signed the legal papers so he could be adopted by another family. Rohs was one of thousands of baby boomers taken in by Catholic institutions during the tumultuous post-WWII years: out-of-wedlock infants, children whose fathers had died in the war, and children of parents in crisis. Ed gives a brief history of each institution before describing that world. After discharge he has a difficult time adjusting, but he slowly assimilates into “normal” life and determinedly rises above his origins, achieving an advanced degree and career success, working for years in child welfare and as volunteer strength coach for the Fordham University basketball team. He hides his upbringing out of shame and fear of others' pity. But as he begins to reflect on his own story and to talk to the people who raised him, Ed begins to see a larger story intertwined with his own.Less
This book chronicles the extraordinary life of Ed Rohs, a bright, mischievous boy who was raised in five institutions of the Catholic orphanage system in postwar Brooklyn, New York, from infancy in 1946 until he was discharged as an adult in 1965. In 1946 Edward Rohs was left by his unwed parents at the Angel Guardian Home to be raised by the Sisters of Mercy. The Sisters hoped that the parents would return for him. In time they married and had other children, but they never came back for him. And they never signed the legal papers so he could be adopted by another family. Rohs was one of thousands of baby boomers taken in by Catholic institutions during the tumultuous post-WWII years: out-of-wedlock infants, children whose fathers had died in the war, and children of parents in crisis. Ed gives a brief history of each institution before describing that world. After discharge he has a difficult time adjusting, but he slowly assimilates into “normal” life and determinedly rises above his origins, achieving an advanced degree and career success, working for years in child welfare and as volunteer strength coach for the Fordham University basketball team. He hides his upbringing out of shame and fear of others' pity. But as he begins to reflect on his own story and to talk to the people who raised him, Ed begins to see a larger story intertwined with his own.
Ellen Ross
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520249059
- eISBN:
- 9780520940055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520249059.003.0024
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter discusses Katherine Anne Egerton Warburton or Kate Warburton, or “Mother Kate”, as she was known for her entire adult life. Kate was only eighteen when she was received as a novice by ...
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This chapter discusses Katherine Anne Egerton Warburton or Kate Warburton, or “Mother Kate”, as she was known for her entire adult life. Kate was only eighteen when she was received as a novice by the Sisters of St. Margaret's, East Grinstead, and eventually began her career as a nun. She became involved in charity work, managed an orphanage, nursed sick people, and offered children's after-school classes. Her and her colleagues' efforts and services helped overcome the local population's distrust of their elaborate and very nun-like habit. Warburton enjoyed depicting her poor children and adults in religious publications. She also wrote about church affairs and church festivals. She published two books of memoirs, one of which is discussed in this chapter. The selection provided in this chapter focuses on the Epiphany, particularly on the feast which took in Walthamstow, a new industrial suburb on London's eastern edge.Less
This chapter discusses Katherine Anne Egerton Warburton or Kate Warburton, or “Mother Kate”, as she was known for her entire adult life. Kate was only eighteen when she was received as a novice by the Sisters of St. Margaret's, East Grinstead, and eventually began her career as a nun. She became involved in charity work, managed an orphanage, nursed sick people, and offered children's after-school classes. Her and her colleagues' efforts and services helped overcome the local population's distrust of their elaborate and very nun-like habit. Warburton enjoyed depicting her poor children and adults in religious publications. She also wrote about church affairs and church festivals. She published two books of memoirs, one of which is discussed in this chapter. The selection provided in this chapter focuses on the Epiphany, particularly on the feast which took in Walthamstow, a new industrial suburb on London's eastern edge.
William Seraile
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823234196
- eISBN:
- 9780823240838
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234196.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This book uncovers the history of the Colored Orphan Asylum, founded in New York City in 1836 as the nation's first orphanage for African American children — a remarkable institution that is still in ...
More
This book uncovers the history of the Colored Orphan Asylum, founded in New York City in 1836 as the nation's first orphanage for African American children — a remarkable institution that is still in the forefront aiding children. Although no longer an orphanage, in its current incarnation as Harlem-Dowling West Side Center for Children and Family Services it maintains the principles of the women who organized it nearly 200 years ago. The agency weathered three wars, two major financial panics, a devastating fire during the 1863 Draft Riots, several epidemics, waves of racial prejudice, and severe financial difficulties to care for orphaned, neglected, and delinquent children. Eventually financial support would come from some of New York's finest families, including the Jays, Murrays, Roosevelts, Macys, and Astors. While the white female managers and their male advisers were dedicated to uplifting these black children, the evangelical, mainly Quaker founding managers also exhibited the extreme paternalistic views endemic at the time, accepting the advice or support of the African American community only grudgingly. It was frank criticism in 1913 from W.E.B. Du Bois that highlighted the conflict between the orphanage and the community it served, and it was not until 1939 that it hired the first black trustee. More than 15,000 children were raised in the orphanage, and throughout its history letters and visits have revealed that hundreds if not thousands of old boys and girls looked back with admiration and respect at the home that nurtured them throughout their formative years.Less
This book uncovers the history of the Colored Orphan Asylum, founded in New York City in 1836 as the nation's first orphanage for African American children — a remarkable institution that is still in the forefront aiding children. Although no longer an orphanage, in its current incarnation as Harlem-Dowling West Side Center for Children and Family Services it maintains the principles of the women who organized it nearly 200 years ago. The agency weathered three wars, two major financial panics, a devastating fire during the 1863 Draft Riots, several epidemics, waves of racial prejudice, and severe financial difficulties to care for orphaned, neglected, and delinquent children. Eventually financial support would come from some of New York's finest families, including the Jays, Murrays, Roosevelts, Macys, and Astors. While the white female managers and their male advisers were dedicated to uplifting these black children, the evangelical, mainly Quaker founding managers also exhibited the extreme paternalistic views endemic at the time, accepting the advice or support of the African American community only grudgingly. It was frank criticism in 1913 from W.E.B. Du Bois that highlighted the conflict between the orphanage and the community it served, and it was not until 1939 that it hired the first black trustee. More than 15,000 children were raised in the orphanage, and throughout its history letters and visits have revealed that hundreds if not thousands of old boys and girls looked back with admiration and respect at the home that nurtured them throughout their formative years.
William Seraile
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823234196
- eISBN:
- 9780823240838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234196.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This book is an examination of the effort of a group of white women who, aided sporadically by limited financial support from African Americans, labored for over a century to maintain a home for ...
More
This book is an examination of the effort of a group of white women who, aided sporadically by limited financial support from African Americans, labored for over a century to maintain a home for black youth, first orphans and then also half-orphans and neglected, dependent, and delinquent children. The Colored Orphan Asylum (COA), the first in the nation for African American youth, was similar to other orphanages in the United States. Some orphanages cared for only Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish youth. In contrast, the COA housed blacks and occasionally American Indians until 1944, when a state law required them also to accept white applicants. The COA did not deviate from this pattern, although very few children were indentured to African American homes, and it was not until the early twentieth century when efforts were made to place them in the homes of black foster or adoptive parents.Less
This book is an examination of the effort of a group of white women who, aided sporadically by limited financial support from African Americans, labored for over a century to maintain a home for black youth, first orphans and then also half-orphans and neglected, dependent, and delinquent children. The Colored Orphan Asylum (COA), the first in the nation for African American youth, was similar to other orphanages in the United States. Some orphanages cared for only Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish youth. In contrast, the COA housed blacks and occasionally American Indians until 1944, when a state law required them also to accept white applicants. The COA did not deviate from this pattern, although very few children were indentured to African American homes, and it was not until the early twentieth century when efforts were made to place them in the homes of black foster or adoptive parents.
William Seraile
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823234196
- eISBN:
- 9780823240838
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234196.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, Social History
The Colored Orphan Asylum's (COA) move to Forty-third Street and Fifth Avenue was chaotic. The orphanage's staff had to transport furniture and household goods — along with children of various ages — ...
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The Colored Orphan Asylum's (COA) move to Forty-third Street and Fifth Avenue was chaotic. The orphanage's staff had to transport furniture and household goods — along with children of various ages — through Manhattan streets clogged with private and public carriages and wagons ferrying goods around the island. The area, then outside of the city's limits, was described by Mary Murray as an inelegant neighborhood lacking paved streets. Prominent New Yorkers aided the institution. James Lenox, whose funds would immensely aid the future New York Public Library, was a major supporter of the COA. The children helped to lower expenses by doing much of the housework. The public appeals presented the bigoted view of the institution's physicians James MacDonald and James Proudfit, members of the American Colonization Society, that the children's high morbidity and mortality were due to environment, poverty, and their “peculiar constitution and condition.”Less
The Colored Orphan Asylum's (COA) move to Forty-third Street and Fifth Avenue was chaotic. The orphanage's staff had to transport furniture and household goods — along with children of various ages — through Manhattan streets clogged with private and public carriages and wagons ferrying goods around the island. The area, then outside of the city's limits, was described by Mary Murray as an inelegant neighborhood lacking paved streets. Prominent New Yorkers aided the institution. James Lenox, whose funds would immensely aid the future New York Public Library, was a major supporter of the COA. The children helped to lower expenses by doing much of the housework. The public appeals presented the bigoted view of the institution's physicians James MacDonald and James Proudfit, members of the American Colonization Society, that the children's high morbidity and mortality were due to environment, poverty, and their “peculiar constitution and condition.”
Janet Grossbach Mayer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823234165
- eISBN:
- 9780823240814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234165.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter is about the life of Omara, the orphan, her struggles and eventual success. Omara hardly greeted Janet Mayer, which surprised the latter because of her affectionate departure eleven days ...
More
This chapter is about the life of Omara, the orphan, her struggles and eventual success. Omara hardly greeted Janet Mayer, which surprised the latter because of her affectionate departure eleven days earlier. Omara asked Mayer if she could recommend a good orphanage for her because her father had been killed in the street, in the Bronx, during Christmas, and she had no one with whom to live. She uttered all this in a matter-of-fact tone — no emotion. Mayer could not believe what she had just heard. Not that her life was not ever happy, but it was very hard — there was no doubt about that. She continued on at Carter High School through the tenth and eleventh grades. On December 2006, Omara telephoned Mayer. After no communication for several years, she informed Mayer that she was now a proud college graduate and that she owned not only her own day-care center but also her own house in the Bronx.Less
This chapter is about the life of Omara, the orphan, her struggles and eventual success. Omara hardly greeted Janet Mayer, which surprised the latter because of her affectionate departure eleven days earlier. Omara asked Mayer if she could recommend a good orphanage for her because her father had been killed in the street, in the Bronx, during Christmas, and she had no one with whom to live. She uttered all this in a matter-of-fact tone — no emotion. Mayer could not believe what she had just heard. Not that her life was not ever happy, but it was very hard — there was no doubt about that. She continued on at Carter High School through the tenth and eleventh grades. On December 2006, Omara telephoned Mayer. After no communication for several years, she informed Mayer that she was now a proud college graduate and that she owned not only her own day-care center but also her own house in the Bronx.
