Infanticide and infant abandonment in the new south: Richmond, Virginia, 1865-1915

Journal of Family History

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 187-211

  Green, Elna C ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AFRICAN AMERICAN; ARTICLE; CHILD WELFARE; HEALTH; HISTORY; HUMAN; ILLEGITIMACY; INFANT; INFANTICIDE; MOTHER; NEWBORN; RACE; SOCIOECONOMICS; UNITED STATES;

AFRICAN AMERICANS; CHILD, ABANDONED; CONTINENTAL POPULATION GROUPS; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; HUMANS; ILLEGITIMACY; INFANT; INFANT, NEWBORN; INFANTICIDE; MOTHERS; SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS; UNITED STATES; URBAN HEALTH;

EID: 0033106513     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/036319909902400204     Document Type: Article

References (139)

1. "Supposed Infanticide," Richmond Daily Dispatch, March 13, 1866, 1; "Dead Body Found," Richmond Daily Dispatch, April 11, 1866, 1.
2. "Supposed Infanticide," Richmond Daily Dispatch, March 13, 1866, 1; "Dead Body Found," Richmond Daily Dispatch, April 11, 1866, 1.
3. "Infanticide," Richmond Daily Dispatch, July 24, 1867, 1. Almost identical language was used by an editor in New Jersey in 1868. See Douglas V. Shaw, "Infanticide in New Jersey: A Nineteenth-Century Case Study," New Jersey History 115 (Spring-Summer 1997): 18.
4. "Infanticide," Richmond Daily Dispatch, July 24, 1867, 1. Almost identical language was used by an editor in New Jersey in 1868. See Douglas V. Shaw, "Infanticide in New Jersey: A Nineteenth-Century Case Study," New Jersey History 115 (Spring-Summer 1997): 18.
5. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Fiscal Year Ending January 31, 1875 (Richmond, VA: city printer, 1875), 132. Unfortunately for the researcher, these official reports do not define "infanticide" or give any details about the accumulation of these data. So, we cannot know, for example, whether these include only cases in which individuals were charged with deliberate acts or murder, whether babies left to exposure were included, or whether these numbers include procured abortions. The records are silent on these questions. Similarly, the statistics do not include a definition of "infant"; one cannot tell from these sources whether only newborns were counted or whether babies up to 1 year in age were included.
6. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Fiscal Year Ending January 31, 1888 (Richmond, VA: city printer, 1889), 9.
7. See the mention of an infanticide case from 1715 in Peter C. Hoffer and N.E.H. Hull, Murdering Mothers: Infanticide in England and New England, 1558-1803 (New York: New York University Press, 1981), 51. A mention of foundlings can be found in J. Staunton Moore, ed., Annals of Henrico Parish (Richmond, VA: Williams Printing, 1904), esp. 3, 10-11.
8. See the mention of an infanticide case from 1715 in Peter C. Hoffer and N.E.H. Hull, Murdering Mothers: Infanticide in England and New England, 1558-1803 (New York: New York University Press, 1981), 51. A mention of foundlings can be found in J. Staunton Moore, ed., Annals of Henrico Parish (Richmond, VA: Williams Printing, 1904), esp. 3, 10-11.
9. There are no antebellum statistics on foundlings that would allow us to calculate whether the rate of child abandonment was actually on the rise after the Civil War. But contemporaries believed that it was and acted accordingly.
10. The periodization for this study has been dictated by the sources available. Board of health reports on infanticides run from 1873 to 1893, city police reported numbers of abandoned children from 1905 to 1915, reports of foundlings received by the city almshouse run from 1876 to 1915, coroner's inquests are extant from 1870 to 1885, and the registers of admissions to the almshouse that I have converted to a spreadsheet database run from 1885 to 1907.
11. Literature on infanticide and infant abandonment in the United States not cited elsewhere in this article includes G. S. Rowe, "Infanticide, Its Judicial Resolution, and Criminal Code Revision in Early Pennsylvania," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 135 (1991): 200-32; Daniel Maier-Katkin and Robbin S. Ogle, "Policy and Disparity: The Punishment of Infanticide in Britain and America," International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 21 (Spring 1997): 305; Steven Weisenburger, Modern Medea: A Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998); Merril D. Smith, "'Unnatural Mothers': Infanticide, Motherhood, and Class in the Mid-Atlantic, 1730-1830," in Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America, ed. Christine Daniels (New York: Routledge, forthcoming).
12. Literature on infanticide and infant abandonment in the United States not cited elsewhere in this article includes G. S. Rowe, "Infanticide, Its Judicial Resolution, and Criminal Code Revision in Early Pennsylvania," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 135 (1991): 200-32; Daniel Maier-Katkin and Robbin S. Ogle, "Policy and Disparity: The Punishment of Infanticide in Britain and America," International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 21 (Spring 1997): 305; Steven Weisenburger, Modern Medea: A Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998); Merril D. Smith, "'Unnatural Mothers': Infanticide, Motherhood, and Class in the Mid-Atlantic, 1730-1830," in Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America, ed. Christine Daniels (New York: Routledge, forthcoming).
13. Literature on infanticide and infant abandonment in the United States not cited elsewhere in this article includes G. S. Rowe, "Infanticide, Its Judicial Resolution, and Criminal Code Revision in Early Pennsylvania," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 135 (1991): 200-32; Daniel Maier-Katkin and Robbin S. Ogle, "Policy and Disparity: The Punishment of Infanticide in Britain and America," International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 21 (Spring 1997): 305; Steven Weisenburger, Modern Medea: A Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998); Merril D. Smith, "'Unnatural Mothers': Infanticide, Motherhood, and Class in the Mid-Atlantic, 1730-1830," in Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America, ed. Christine Daniels (New York: Routledge, forthcoming).
14. Literature on infanticide and infant abandonment in the United States not cited elsewhere in this article includes G. S. Rowe, "Infanticide, Its Judicial Resolution, and Criminal Code Revision in Early Pennsylvania," Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 135 (1991): 200-32; Daniel Maier-Katkin and Robbin S. Ogle, "Policy and Disparity: The Punishment of Infanticide in Britain and America," International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 21 (Spring 1997): 305; Steven Weisenburger, Modern Medea: A Story of Slavery and Child-Murder from the Old South (New York: Hill & Wang, 1998); Merril D. Smith, "'Unnatural Mothers': Infanticide, Motherhood, and Class in the Mid-Atlantic, 1730-1830," in Over the Threshold: Intimate Violence in Early America, ed. Christine Daniels (New York: Routledge, forthcoming).
15. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
16. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
17. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
18. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
19. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
20. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
21. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
22. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
23. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
24. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
25. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
26. Literature on Europe not mentioned elsewhere in this article includes John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance (New York: Pantheon, 1988); Joseph A. Robins, The Lost Children: A Study of Charity Children in Ireland (Dublin, Ireland: Institute of Public Administration, 1980); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988); Mark Jackson, Newborn Child Murder: Women, Illegitimacy, and the Courts in Eighteenth-Century England (Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1996); David Kertzer, "Gender Ideology and Infant Abandonment in Nineteenth-Century Italy," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 11 (1991): 1-25; William L. Langer, "Infanticide: A Historical Survey," History of Childhood Quarterly 1 (1974): 353-65; Stephen Wilson, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Female Honour in Nineteenth-Century Corsica," Comparative Studies in Society and History 30 (October 1988): 762-84; Ann R. Higginbotham, "'Sin of the Age': Infanticide and Illegitimacy in Victorian England," Victorian Studies 32 (Spring 1989): 319-38; James M. Donovan, "Infanticide and the Juries in France, 1825-1913," Journal of Family History 16 (April 1991): 157-77; Laura Gowing, "Secret Births and Infanticide in Seventeenth Century England," Past & Present 156 (1997): 87-116; Marilyn Francus, "Monstrous Mothers, Monstrous Societies: Infanticide and the Rule of Law in Restoration and Eighteenth-Century England," Eighteenth Century Life 21 (1997): 133-57; Jeffrey S. Richter, "Infanticide, Child Abandonment, and Abortion in Imperial Germany," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 28 (Spring 1998): 511-52.
27. Kenneth Wheeler, for example, has argued that infanticide rates increased in Ohio not because of economic depressions but rather because of demographic and social changes caused by the "revolutions" in transportation and industrialization ("Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," Journal of Social History 31 [Winter 1997]: 410, 413). Paul Gilje has reported a sharp increase in the number of infanticides in New York during the Panic of 1819 ("Infant Abandonment in Early Nineteenth-Century New York City: Three Cases," Signs 8 [1983]: 583). Rachel Fuchs has linked increases in infant abandonment to periods of high grain prices (Abandoned Children: Foundlings and Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century France [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984], 10-11).
28. Kenneth Wheeler, for example, has argued that infanticide rates increased in Ohio not because of economic depressions but rather because of demographic and social changes caused by the "revolutions" in transportation and industrialization ("Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," Journal of Social History 31 [Winter 1997]: 410, 413). Paul Gilje has reported a sharp increase in the number of infanticides in New York during the Panic of 1819 ("Infant Abandonment in Early Nineteenth-Century New York City: Three Cases," Signs 8 [1983]: 583). Rachel Fuchs has linked increases in infant abandonment to periods of high grain prices (Abandoned Children: Foundlings and Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century France [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984], 10-11).
29. Kenneth Wheeler, for example, has argued that infanticide rates increased in Ohio not because of economic depressions but rather because of demographic and social changes caused by the "revolutions" in transportation and industrialization ("Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," Journal of Social History 31 [Winter 1997]: 410, 413). Paul Gilje has reported a sharp increase in the number of infanticides in New York during the Panic of 1819 ("Infant Abandonment in Early Nineteenth-Century New York City: Three Cases," Signs 8 [1983]: 583). Rachel Fuchs has linked increases in infant abandonment to periods of high grain prices (Abandoned Children: Foundlings and Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century France [Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984], 10-11).
30. LeeAnn Whites, The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender: Augusta, Georgia, 1860-1890 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995); Laura F. Edwards, Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997).
31. LeeAnn Whites, The Civil War as a Crisis in Gender: Augusta, Georgia, 1860-1890 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995); Laura F. Edwards, Gendered Strife and Confusion: The Political Culture of Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997).
32. Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996).
33. Peter Rachleff, Black Labor in Richmond, 1865-1890 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 4; Marie Tyler-McGraw, At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia, and Its People (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 105-10.
34. Peter Rachleff, Black Labor in Richmond, 1865-1890 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989), 4; Marie Tyler-McGraw, At the Falls: Richmond, Virginia, and Its People (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 105-10.
35. On poverty and poor relief in Richmond during the Civil War, see Michael B. Chesson, "Harlots or Heroines? A New Look at the Richmond Bread Riot," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 92 (April 1984): 131-75; Paul D. Escott, "The Cry of the Sufferers: The Problem of Welfare in the Confederacy," Civil War History 23 (1977): 228-40; Emory Thomas, 'To Feed the Citizens: Welfare in Wartime Richmond, 1861-1865," Virginia Cavalcade 22 (1972): 22-29; and Howard Rabinowitz, Race Relations in the Urban South: 1865-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 129.
36. On poverty and poor relief in Richmond during the Civil War, see Michael B. Chesson, "Harlots or Heroines? A New Look at the Richmond Bread Riot," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 92 (April 1984): 131-75; Paul D. Escott, "The Cry of the Sufferers: The Problem of Welfare in the Confederacy," Civil War History 23 (1977): 228-40; Emory Thomas, 'To Feed the Citizens: Welfare in Wartime Richmond, 1861-1865," Virginia Cavalcade 22 (1972): 22-29; and Howard Rabinowitz, Race Relations in the Urban South: 1865-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 129.
37. On poverty and poor relief in Richmond during the Civil War, see Michael B. Chesson, "Harlots or Heroines? A New Look at the Richmond Bread Riot," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 92 (April 1984): 131-75; Paul D. Escott, "The Cry of the Sufferers: The Problem of Welfare in the Confederacy," Civil War History 23 (1977): 228-40; Emory Thomas, 'To Feed the Citizens: Welfare in Wartime Richmond, 1861-1865," Virginia Cavalcade 22 (1972): 22-29; and Howard Rabinowitz, Race Relations in the Urban South: 1865-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 129.
38. On poverty and poor relief in Richmond during the Civil War, see Michael B. Chesson, "Harlots or Heroines? A New Look at the Richmond Bread Riot," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 92 (April 1984): 131-75; Paul D. Escott, "The Cry of the Sufferers: The Problem of Welfare in the Confederacy," Civil War History 23 (1977): 228-40; Emory Thomas, 'To Feed the Citizens: Welfare in Wartime Richmond, 1861-1865," Virginia Cavalcade 22 (1972): 22-29; and Howard Rabinowitz, Race Relations in the Urban South: 1865-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 129.
39. According to Michael Chesson, Richmond's economic recovery had barely begun in 1870 and was then temporarily derailed by the Panic of 1873. Another recovery began in 1878, becoming an economic boom in the 1880s (Richmond after the War, 1865-1890 [Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1981], 145, 161-62).
40. Raymond Pulley, Old Virginia Restored: An Interpretation of the Progressive Impulse, 1870-1930 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1968), 94-95; James C. Cobb, Industrialization and Southern Society, 1877-1894 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984), 15.
41. Raymond Pulley, Old Virginia Restored: An Interpretation of the Progressive Impulse, 1870-1930 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1968), 94-95; James C. Cobb, Industrialization and Southern Society, 1877-1894 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1984), 15.
42. Allen W. Moger, Virginia, Bourbonism to Byrd (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1968), 129-31.
43. Those averages, however, obscure the racial differences in women's employment. In 1900, 21 percent of white women in the city worked, whereas 61 percent of black women worked. By 1910, the numbers were up to 26 percent for white women but had reached 68 percent for black women. See Joseph A. Hill, Women in Gainful Occupations, 1870 to 1920 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1929), 31, 271, 275.
44. Mary E. Odem, Delinquent Daughters: Protecting and Policing Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, 1885-1920 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995), 2-3.
45. Noted by Rachleff, Black Labor in Richmond, 196.
46. Frederick Wines, Report on the Defective, Dependent, and Deliquent Classes of the Population of the United States as Returned in the Tenth Census (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1888), Table 36.
47. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Year Ending December 31, 1890 (Richmond, VA: Williams Printing, 1891), 12-17. The overwhelming number of these women had been arrested not for prostitution but rather for other crimes.
48. Charles E. Wynes, Race Relations in Virginia, 1870-1902 (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1961), 74-76.
49. Between 1880 and 1893, Virginia had thirty-five lynchings. See Pulley, Old Virginia Restored, 52; Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 156. Charles Wynes has speculated that Virginia's relatively more amicable race relations can be explained by the long established presence of a "considerable" free black population. As a result, there was "much less drastic social change following emancipation" (Race Relations in Virginia, 96).
50. Between 1880 and 1893, Virginia had thirty-five lynchings. See Pulley, Old Virginia Restored, 52; Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 156. Charles Wynes has speculated that Virginia's relatively more amicable race relations can be explained by the long established presence of a "considerable" free black population. As a result, there was "much less drastic social change following emancipation" (Race Relations in Virginia, 96).
51. Between 1880 and 1893, Virginia had thirty-five lynchings. See Pulley, Old Virginia Restored, 52; Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 156. Charles Wynes has speculated that Virginia's relatively more amicable race relations can be explained by the long established presence of a "considerable" free black population. As a result, there was "much less drastic social change following emancipation" (Race Relations in Virginia, 96).
52. On disfranchisement in Virginia, see Joel Williamson, The Crucible of Race: Black-White Relations in the American South since Emancipation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984), 234-41; Pulley, Old Virginia Restored, 72-88.
53. On disfranchisement in Virginia, see Joel Williamson, The Crucible of Race: Black-White Relations in the American South since Emancipation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984), 234-41; Pulley, Old Virginia Restored, 72-88.
54. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Year Ending January 31, 1875 (Richmond, VA: city printer, 1875), xiii. It also appears that these problems were statewide. The state board of charities recommended in 1911 that "women coming into our almshouses to be delivered of illegitimate children should be required to pay for their keep in cash and to provide for their infants or should be kept in the institution after the birth[s] of their children and made to work a sufficient length of time to pay the expenses incurred during such confinement. Receiving such women free of cost, and allowing them to go away after their confinement and leave their children to be cared for by the institution, is not only an unjust burden upon the community, but it encourages this kind of vice by aiding the women to cover their wrong[s], and it often results in the death[s] of the child[ren]" (Third Annual Report of the State Board of Charities and Corrections to the Governor of Virginia for the Year Ending September 30, 1911 (Richmond, VA: Public Printing, 1911), 59.
55. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Year Ending January 31, 1875 (Richmond, VA: city printer, 1875), xiii. It also appears that these problems were statewide. The state board of charities recommended in 1911 that "women coming into our almshouses to be delivered of illegitimate children should be required to pay for their keep in cash and to provide for their infants or should be kept in the institution after the birth[s] of their children and made to work a sufficient length of time to pay the expenses incurred during such confinement. Receiving such women free of cost, and allowing them to go away after their confinement and leave their children to be cared for by the institution, is not only an unjust burden upon the community, but it encourages this kind of vice by aiding the women to cover their wrong[s], and it often results in the death[s] of the child[ren]" (Third Annual Report of the State Board of Charities and Corrections to the Governor of Virginia for the Year Ending September 30, 1911 (Richmond, VA: Public Printing, 1911), 59.
56. On almshouses in Virginia, see Arthur W. James, Back from "Over the Hill": The Disappearance of the County Almshouse in Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Board of Public Welfare, 1926). On social welfare in the South, see Barbara Bellows, Benevolence among Slaveholders: Assisting the Poor in Charleston, 1670-1860 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993); Peter Wallenstein, From Slave South to New South: Public Policy in Georgia in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Elizabeth Wisner, Social Welfare in the South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970); and Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming).
57. On almshouses in Virginia, see Arthur W. James, Back from "Over the Hill": The Disappearance of the County Almshouse in Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Board of Public Welfare, 1926). On social welfare in the South, see Barbara Bellows, Benevolence among Slaveholders: Assisting the Poor in Charleston, 1670-1860 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993); Peter Wallenstein, From Slave South to New South: Public Policy in Georgia in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Elizabeth Wisner, Social Welfare in the South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970); and Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming).
58. On almshouses in Virginia, see Arthur W. James, Back from "Over the Hill": The Disappearance of the County Almshouse in Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Board of Public Welfare, 1926). On social welfare in the South, see Barbara Bellows, Benevolence among Slaveholders: Assisting the Poor in Charleston, 1670-1860 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993); Peter Wallenstein, From Slave South to New South: Public Policy in Georgia in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Elizabeth Wisner, Social Welfare in the South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970); and Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming).
59. On almshouses in Virginia, see Arthur W. James, Back from "Over the Hill": The Disappearance of the County Almshouse in Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Board of Public Welfare, 1926). On social welfare in the South, see Barbara Bellows, Benevolence among Slaveholders: Assisting the Poor in Charleston, 1670-1860 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993); Peter Wallenstein, From Slave South to New South: Public Policy in Georgia in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Elizabeth Wisner, Social Welfare in the South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970); and Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming).
60. On almshouses in Virginia, see Arthur W. James, Back from "Over the Hill": The Disappearance of the County Almshouse in Virginia (Richmond: Virginia State Board of Public Welfare, 1926). On social welfare in the South, see Barbara Bellows, Benevolence among Slaveholders: Assisting the Poor in Charleston, 1670-1860 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993); Peter Wallenstein, From Slave South to New South: Public Policy in Georgia in the Nineteenth Century (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987); Elizabeth Wisner, Social Welfare in the South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970); and Elna C. Green, ed., Before the New Deal: Social Welfare in the South, 1830-1930 (Athens: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming).
61. See "Minutes," Overseers of the Poor, July 13, 1870, p. 4, Virginia State Library and Archives.
62. According to Charles F. Waller, the city mission evolved into the Associated Charities organization ("Charity and Social Developments in Two Southern Cities," Charities, February 11, 1905, 466).
63. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Year Ending December 31, 1900 (Richmond, VA: C. W. Saunders, 1901), 6-9. For a discussion of the complexities of public/private/sectarian charities in another southern city, see Elna C. Green, "National Trends, Regional Differences, Local Circumstances: Social Welfare in New Orleans, 1870s-1920s," in Before the New Deal, ed. Green.
64. Annual Message and Accompanying Documents of the Mayor of Richmond to the City Council for the Year Ending December 31, 1900 (Richmond, VA: C. W. Saunders, 1901), 6-9. For a discussion of the complexities of public/private/sectarian charities in another southern city, see Elna C. Green, "National Trends, Regional Differences, Local Circumstances: Social Welfare in New Orleans, 1870s-1920s," in Before the New Deal, ed. Green.
65. Other southern states in 1910 reported the following as their largest almshouse populations: Mobile, AL, 106; Little Rock, AR, 123; Jacksonville, FL, 97; Atlanta, GA, 78; Louisville, KY, 236; New Orleans, LA, 145; Baltimore, MD, 1, 140; Vicksburg, MS, 19; Raleigh, NC, 77; Charleston, SC, 52; Nashville, TN, 130; Forth Worth, TX, 73. Figures are from Paupers in Almshouses, 1910 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1915).
66. For one example of the voluminous literature on this issue, see Murray Auerbach, "Almshouses: Existing Conditions and Needed Reforms," Proceedings of the National Conferof Charities and Corrections (1914): 465-73.
67. This trend was not unique to Richmond. Similar evolutions took place at other city almshouses. See Marian J. Morton, And Sin No More: Social Policy and Unwed Mothers in Cleveland, 1855-1990 (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1993), 21, 26.
68. According to the 1910 census, when three facilities reported the births from their homes.
69. On mutual aid associations, see John Blassingame, Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), 167-71; Leslie J. Pollard, "Black Beneficial Societies and the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons," Phylon 41 (Summer 1980): 230-34; and Harry Joseph Walker, "Negro Benevolent Societies in New Orleans" (unpublished master's thesis, Fisk University, 1937).
70. On mutual aid associations, see John Blassingame, Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), 167-71; Leslie J. Pollard, "Black Beneficial Societies and the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons," Phylon 41 (Summer 1980): 230-34; and Harry Joseph Walker, "Negro Benevolent Societies in New Orleans" (unpublished master's thesis, Fisk University, 1937).
71. On mutual aid associations, see John Blassingame, Black New Orleans, 1860-1880 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973), 167-71; Leslie J. Pollard, "Black Beneficial Societies and the Home for the Aged and Infirm Colored Persons," Phylon 41 (Summer 1980): 230-34; and Harry Joseph Walker, "Negro Benevolent Societies in New Orleans" (unpublished master's thesis, Fisk University, 1937).
72. Negro Welfare Survey Committee, The Negro in Richmond, Virginia: The Report of the Negro Welfare Survey Committee (Richmond, VA: Richmond Council of Social Agencies, 1929), 26. See also Elsa Barkley Brown, "Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke," Signs 14 (Spring 1989): 610-33.
73. Negro Welfare Survey Committee, The Negro in Richmond, Virginia: The Report of the Negro Welfare Survey Committee (Richmond, VA: Richmond Council of Social Agencies, 1929), 26. See also Elsa Barkley Brown, "Womanist Consciousness: Maggie Lena Walker and the Independent Order of Saint Luke," Signs 14 (Spring 1989): 610-33.
74. Maternity homes seemed to have a short life expectancy themselves. Many folded after a short existence, making them very difficult to trace. In 1916, there appear to have been six different homes caring for mothers and babies in addition to the city almshouse. See Eighth Annual Report of the State Board of Charities and Corrections to the Governor of Virginia for the Year Ending September 30th, 1916 (Richmond, VA: Public Printing, 1917), 104-40.
75. One publication, Benevolent Institutions, 1910 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1915), reported that the Spring Street Home charged $35 in 1910. The other two homes did not report entry fees that year.
76. Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls, Unmarried Mothers, and the Professionalization of Social Work, 1890-1945 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993), 8.
77. Paul Gilje has reported that sectarian concerns also could work in reverse; that is, Catholic women in New York avoided leaving their babies at the public almshouse for fear the infants would be raised as Protestants ("Infant Abandonment," 584). Similar fears were attached to Protestant-run foundling homes. See David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988), 64.
78. Paul Gilje has reported that sectarian concerns also could work in reverse; that is, Catholic women in New York avoided leaving their babies at the public almshouse for fear the infants would be raised as Protestants ("Infant Abandonment," 584). Similar fears were attached to Protestant-run foundling homes. See David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988), 64.
79. Kunzel, Fallen Women, 1-2, 26. See also Morton, And Sin No More, 37.
80. Kunzel, Fallen Women, 1-2, 26. See also Morton, And Sin No More, 37.
81. Quoted phrases are from Morton, And Sin No More, 44. The administrators of the Richmond almshouse, although not "professional social workers" during the period under review, nevertheless were participants in the Virginia Conference on Charities and Corrections, which was the forerunner of the Virginia Conference of Social Work. Heavily influenced by charity organization methods and philosophies, the Virginia Conference was the clearinghouse for contemporary social work techniques and theories. See Bernice Shields, History of the Virginia Conference of Social Work from 1900-1942 (Richmond, VA: C. W. Saunders, 1942).
82. Quoted phrases are from Morton, And Sin No More, 44. The administrators of the Richmond almshouse, although not "professional social workers" during the period under review, nevertheless were participants in the Virginia Conference on Charities and Corrections, which was the forerunner of the Virginia Conference of Social Work. Heavily influenced by charity organization methods and philosophies, the Virginia Conference was the clearinghouse for contemporary social work techniques and theories. See Bernice Shields, History of the Virginia Conference of Social Work from 1900-1942 (Richmond, VA: C. W. Saunders, 1942).
83. Kunzel, Fallen Women, 33-34. See also Kate Waller Barrett, Some Practical Suggestions on the Conduct of a Rescue Home (New York: Arno, 1974 [1903]).
84. Kunzel, Fallen Women, 33-34. See also Kate Waller Barrett, Some Practical Suggestions on the Conduct of a Rescue Home (New York: Arno, 1974 [1903]).
85. Arthur W. James, Virginia's Social Awakening: The Contribution of Dr. Mastin and the Board of Charities and Corrections (Richmond, VA: Garrett & Massie, 1939), 35-39. Regina Kunzel has argued that social workers began a campaign to professionalize maternity homes during the 1910s, as social workers formed a united front against the maternity homes and were harshly critical of the women who ran them (Fallen Women, 49). The tone of James's account supports
86. Arthur W. James, Virginia's Social Awakening: The Contribution of Dr. Mastin and the Board of Charities and Corrections (Richmond, VA: Garrett & Massie, 1939), 35-39. Regina Kunzel has argued that social workers began a campaign to professionalize maternity homes during the 1910s, as social workers formed a united front against the maternity homes and were harshly critical of the women who ran them (Fallen Women, 49). The tone of James's account supports this assessment, which suggests that the report cited here might be overly critical of the maternity homes in Richmond. This investigation did result in the regulation of these homes by both the state and city governments. The Richmond city council passed an ordinance in 1910 requiring the licensing of "lying-in hospitals" (Ordinances and Certain Joint Resolutions of the City of Richmond from September 1, 1908 to September 1, 1910 [Richmond, VA: city printer, 1910], 236).
87. Arthur W. James, Virginia's Social Awakening: The Contribution of Dr. Mastin and the Board of Charities and Corrections (Richmond, VA: Garrett & Massie, 1939), 35-39. Regina Kunzel has argued that social workers began a campaign to professionalize maternity homes during the 1910s, as social workers formed a united front against the maternity homes and were harshly critical of the women who ran them (Fallen Women, 49). The tone of James's account supports this assessment, which suggests that the report cited here might be overly critical of the maternity homes in Richmond. This investigation did result in the regulation of these homes by both the state and city governments. The Richmond city council passed an ordinance in 1910 requiring the licensing of "lying-in hospitals" (Ordinances and Certain Joint Resolutions of the City of Richmond from September 1, 1908 to September 1, 1910 [Richmond, VA: city printer, 1910], 236).
88. The following two sketches are taken from information in the admissions registers of the city almshouse. In accordance with an agreement made with the Virginia State Library and Archives, I have changed the names to protect the privacy of the individuals. All other details in these case histories are factual.
89. For an extended discussion on the merits and demerits of Boswell's thesis, see Louise A. Tilley, Rachel G. Fuchs, David I. Kertzer, and David L. Ransel, "Child Abandonment in European History: A Symposium," Journal of Family History 17 (1992): 1-23.
90. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 11.
91. Fuchs, Abandoned Children, 13, 175.
92. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 13. Historian Volker Hunecke is quoted by David I. Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control (Boston: Beacon, 1993), 178.
93. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 13. Historian Volker Hunecke is quoted by David I. Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor: Italian Infant Abandonment and the Politics of Reproductive Control (Boston: Beacon, 1993), 178.
94. Although beyond the parameters of this study, families also found ways in which to abandon older children during economic crises, often reclaiming them several years later. As the Male Orphan Society reported in 1887, "One of the troubles we encounter . . . results from the conduct of some of their mothers who voluntarily commit their boys to our care. We take a boy at five, six, or seven years of age, and when he gets to be ten or eleven, the mother applies to take him out, saying that she can now take care of him. It is often true that she wants the boy, by going into a factory, only half educated and trained, to 'take care' of her" (Forty-fourth Annual Report of the Male Orphan Society [Richmond, VA: Wittet & Shepperson, 1887], 7).
95. Gilje, "Infant Abandonment," 584.
96. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 11. See also Fuchs, Abandoned Children, 11. David Ransel has made another thoughtful observation about married women who gave up their babies in Moscow in a line of reasoning that could apply to women in Richmond as well. Because husbands and wives often worked in different homes, it was just as difficult for these women to keep their children as it was for their unmarried counterparts. Ransel suggests that this might have been the source of many of the legitimate children who entered orphanages and foundling homes. It was the conditions of employment as much as poverty per se that interfered with the ability of these women to keep their children (Mothers of Misery, 173).
97. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 11. See also Fuchs, Abandoned Children, 11. David Ransel has made another thoughtful observation about married women who gave up their babies in Moscow in a line of reasoning that could apply to women in Richmond as well. Because husbands and wives often worked in different homes, it was just as difficult for these women to keep their children as it was for their unmarried counterparts. Ransel suggests that this might have been the source of many of the legitimate children who entered orphanages and foundling homes. It was the conditions of employment as much as poverty per se that interfered with the ability of these women to keep their children (Mothers of Misery, 173).
98. Fuchs's comment is from Tilly et al., "Child Abandonment," 11. See also Fuchs, Abandoned Children, 11. David Ransel has made another thoughtful observation about married women who gave up their babies in Moscow in a line of reasoning that could apply to women in Richmond as well. Because husbands and wives often worked in different homes, it was just as difficult for these women to keep their children as it was for their unmarried counterparts. Ransel suggests that this might have been the source of many of the legitimate children who entered orphanages and foundling homes. It was the conditions of employment as much as poverty per se that interfered with the ability of these women to keep their children (Mothers of Misery, 173).
99. Brumberg, "Ruined Girls," 247, 249.
100. A similar account can be found in Wheeler, "Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," 411.
101. Coroner's Inquests, Box 5, no number given, January 19, 1870, Richmond City Records, Hustings Court, Virginia State Library and Archives.
102. There has been a great deal of recent literature on orphans and orphanages that recognizes the presence of living parents. See, for example, Marilyn Irvin Holt, The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992).
103. Although whites disapproved, they recognized that their black neighbors held different cultural conventions regarding "illegitimacy." See Illegitimacy in Richmond, Virginia (Richmond, VA: Department of Public Welfare, 1957).
104. Kunzel, Fallen Women, 40.
105. Rachleff, Black Labor in Richmond, 27.
106. These high mortality levels occured elsewhere as well. Kertzer has called foundling homes the equivalent of slaughterhouses because of the high mortality rates (Sacrificed for Honor, 138).
107. Benevolent Institutions, 1910, 152.
108. According to Bellows, the commissioners of the Charleston Poorhouse also insisted on a nonsectarian governance policy, as "years of administering public charity had taught them that any hint of coercion only caused great disquiet among the White poor" (Benevolence among Slaveholders, 28).
109. According to an "in-house" history of the Diocese of Richmond, "The baptism[s] of these neglected and abandoned babies appear in the church records. It was intended that they would add to St. Joseph's population." See Nessa Theresa Baskerville Johnson, A Special Pilgrimage: A History of Black Catholics in Richmond (Richmond, VA: Diocese of Richmond, 1978), 20-21.
110. Shaw, "Infanticide in New Jersey," 19. Unlike forms of infanticide practiced in some cultures, there does not appear to have been any tendency to dispose of female infants more often than male infants in postbellum Richmond (Table 10). Fuchs has speculated that urban mothers showed little preference for males over females; abandonment occurred when their situations were so desperate that they could not keep their babies no matter what the sex (Abandoned Children, 65).
111. Shaw, "Infanticide in New Jersey," 19. Unlike forms of infanticide practiced in some cultures, there does not appear to have been any tendency to dispose of female infants more often than male infants in postbellum Richmond (Table 10). Fuchs has speculated that urban mothers showed little preference for males over females; abandonment occurred when their situations were so desperate that they could not keep their babies no matter what the sex (Abandoned Children, 65).
112. Coroner's Inquests, Box 5. no. 750, November 4, 1878.
113. Ibid., Box 998, no. 1134, December 24, 1881.
114. Ibid., Box 998, no. 842, August 14, 1879.
115. Ibid., Box 998, no. 776, January 23, 1879.
116. Ibid., Box 5, no number given, April 17, 1870.
117. Wheeler, "Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," 412. The association of infanticide with domestic servants goes far beyond U.S. borders. See also Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor, 33.
118. Wheeler, "Infanticide in Nineteenth-Century Ohio," 412. The association of infanticide with domestic servants goes far beyond U.S. borders. See also Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor, 33.
119. Coroner's Inquests, Box 5, no number given, April 1, 1871.
120. Ibid., Box 998, no. 1079, July 17, 1881.
121. Account taken from "Infanticide," Richmond Daily Dispatch, August 8, 1867, 1.
122. Coroner's Inquests, Box 6, no. 1680, June 23, 1885.
123. These are the only two women whose ages were identified in any records.
124. Coroner's Inquests, Box 998, no number given, March 22, 1881.
125. Ibid., Box 6, no number given, July 8, 1884.
126. Kertzer, Sacrificed for Honor, 33.
127. Coroner's Inquests, Box 6, no. 49, July 15, 1876.
128. Ibid., Box 5, no. 185, August 22, 1873.
129. Ibid., Box 5, no number given, May 5, 1872.
130. On the 1873 depression in Richmond, see Tyler-McGraw, At the Falls, 182.
131. For a grim depiction of the conditions of black Richmond in a slightly later period, see Negro Welfare Survey Committee, The Negro in Richmond, Virginia.
132. Quoted in Molly Ladd-Taylor, Mother-Work: Women, Child Welfare, and the State, 1890-1930 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994), 60-61.
133. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
134. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
135. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
136. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
137. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
138. This literature is voluminous. A few examples will stand for the whole: Dwight Billings, Planters and the Making of a "New South": Class, Politics, and Development in North Carolina, 1865-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979); Don Doyle, New Men, New Cities, New South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990); Paul Escott, Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850-1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983); Jonathan Wiener, Social Origins of the New South: Alabama, 1860-1885 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1978); Janette Thomas Greenwood, Bittersweet Legacy: The Black and White "Better Classes" in Charlotte, 1850-1910 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
139. One exception to this generalization is Wayne Flynt, Poor but Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1989).