Rescuing the 'waifs and strays' of the city: The western emigration program of the children's aid society

Journal of Social History

Volumn 33, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 121-141

  Gish, Clay ^a  

^a NONE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0040707337     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh.1999.0015     Document Type: Review

References (83)

1. Charles Loring Brace, The Dangerous Classes of New York and Twenty Years' Work Among Them (New York, 1872; reprinted, Washington, DC: National Association of Social Workers, 1973), pp. 88-89, 265.
2. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 230, 238-239, 243; CAS, Fourth Annual Report, 1857, pp. 8. Two works explore the influence of evangelical religion and domestic ideology on Brace's social philosophy: Kristine E. Nelson, "The Best Asylum: Charles Loring Brace and Foster Family Care," (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1980); Barbara Finkelstein, "Casting Networks of Good Influence: The Reconstruction of Childhood in the United States, 1790-1870," in Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, eds., American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook (Westport, 1985).
3. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 230, 238-239, 243; CAS, Fourth Annual Report, 1857, pp. 8. Two works explore the influence of evangelical religion and domestic ideology on Brace's social philosophy: Kristine E. Nelson, "The Best Asylum: Charles Loring Brace and Foster Family Care," (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1980); Barbara Finkelstein, "Casting Networks of Good Influence: The Reconstruction of Childhood in the United States, 1790-1870," in Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, eds., American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook (Westport, 1985).
4. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 230, 238-239, 243; CAS, Fourth Annual Report, 1857, pp. 8. Two works explore the influence of evangelical religion and domestic ideology on Brace's social philosophy: Kristine E. Nelson, "The Best Asylum: Charles Loring Brace and Foster Family Care," (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1980); Barbara Finkelstein, "Casting Networks of Good Influence: The Reconstruction of Childhood in the United States, 1790-1870," in Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, eds., American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook (Westport, 1985).
5. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 230, 238-239, 243; CAS, Fourth Annual Report, 1857, pp. 8. Two works explore the influence of evangelical religion and domestic ideology on Brace's social philosophy: Kristine E. Nelson, "The Best Asylum: Charles Loring Brace and Foster Family Care," (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1980); Barbara Finkelstein, "Casting Networks of Good Influence: The Reconstruction of Childhood in the United States, 1790-1870," in Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner, eds., American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook (Westport, 1985).
6. Marilyn Holt, The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Lincoln, 1992); Kenneth Bagnall, The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada (Toronto, 1980); G.P. Parr, Labouring Children (London, 1980); Gillian Wagner, Barnardo (London, 1979).
7. Marilyn Holt, The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Lincoln, 1992); Kenneth Bagnall, The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada (Toronto, 1980); G.P. Parr, Labouring Children (London, 1980); Gillian Wagner, Barnardo (London, 1979).
8. Marilyn Holt, The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Lincoln, 1992); Kenneth Bagnall, The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada (Toronto, 1980); G.P. Parr, Labouring Children (London, 1980); Gillian Wagner, Barnardo (London, 1979).
9. Marilyn Holt, The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Lincoln, 1992); Kenneth Bagnall, The Little Immigrants: The Orphans Who Came to Canada (Toronto, 1980); G.P. Parr, Labouring Children (London, 1980); Gillian Wagner, Barnardo (London, 1979).
10. Walter I. Trattnor, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (New York, 1984), 3rd ed.; Robert Bremner, From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States (New York, 1956); Thomas Bender, Toward an Urban Vision: Ideas and Institutions in Nineteenth Century America (Baltimore, 1982); Holt, The Orphan Trains.
11. Walter I. Trattnor, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (New York, 1984), 3rd ed.; Robert Bremner, From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States (New York, 1956); Thomas Bender, Toward an Urban Vision: Ideas and Institutions in Nineteenth Century America (Baltimore, 1982); Holt, The Orphan Trains.
12. Walter I. Trattnor, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (New York, 1984), 3rd ed.; Robert Bremner, From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States (New York, 1956); Thomas Bender, Toward an Urban Vision: Ideas and Institutions in Nineteenth Century America (Baltimore, 1982); Holt, The Orphan Trains.
13. Walter I. Trattnor, From Poor Law to Welfare State: A History of Social Welfare in America (New York, 1984), 3rd ed.; Robert Bremner, From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States (New York, 1956); Thomas Bender, Toward an Urban Vision: Ideas and Institutions in Nineteenth Century America (Baltimore, 1982); Holt, The Orphan Trains.
14. Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America (New York, 1986), pp. 106-109; Ann Vanderpol, "Dependent Children, Child Custody and the Mother's Pensions: the Transformation of State-Family Relations in the Early Twentieth Century," Social Problems vol. 29, no. 3, (1982): 221-235; Paul Boyer, Urban Masses and Moral Order in America (Cambridge, MA, 1978).
15. Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America (New York, 1986), pp. 106-109; Ann Vanderpol, "Dependent Children, Child Custody and the Mother's Pensions: the Transformation of State-Family Relations in the Early Twentieth Century," Social Problems vol. 29, no. 3, (1982): 221-235; Paul Boyer, Urban Masses and Moral Order in America (Cambridge, MA, 1978).
16. Michael Katz, In the Shadow of the Poorhouse: A Social History of Welfare in America (New York, 1986), pp. 106-109; Ann Vanderpol, "Dependent Children, Child Custody and the Mother's Pensions: the Transformation of State-Family Relations in the Early Twentieth Century," Social Problems vol. 29, no. 3, (1982): 221-235; Paul Boyer, Urban Masses and Moral Order in America (Cambridge, MA, 1978).
17. Bruce Bellingham, "Little Wanders: A Socio-Historical Study of the Nineteenth Century Origins of Child Fostering and Adoption Reform, Based on Early Records," (Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, 1984).
18. Records of the Emigration Department of the Children's Aid Society of New York, 1853-1899. The records of the emigration program are contained in a set of fifty-six ledger books, which the Children's Aid Society still holds in its possession, dating from the agency's first year, 1853, through 1899. In CAS's ledgers, the date of departure of each "company" (CAS's term for a group leaving New York) provides the organizing principle of the record-keeping system. A company's record gives information on the agent in charge of the expedition, the company's destination, and the composition of the company in terms of age, sex, and birthplace of each individual. For every child in the company under CAS's guardianship, there is also a case record. While children's records vary considerably in the amount of information they contain, a typical record provides a brief description of the child's situation at intake: name, age, place of birth, religion (rarely), parental mortality (i.e., whether a child's parents were alive or dead), residence, how and why the child came to CAS, and if a crisis existed at the time of intake. Once CAS placed a child, the company's western agent provided the name and address of the foster parent. Over the years, a child's record would be updated to note the agent's progress reports, and any further involvement required of CAS, such as removal or replacement of a child due to his incorrigibility or the unsuitability of the foster parent. The file also summarized any correspondence that passed between CAS and the child or the foster parent.
19. Charles Loring Brace, "The Science of Charity," in The Nation, vol. 8, June 10, 1869, pp. 457-458; Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 76-77.
20. Charles Loring Brace, "The Science of Charity," in The Nation, vol. 8, June 10, 1869, pp. 457-458; Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 76-77.
21. Christine Stansell, City of Women: Sex and Class in New York, 1789-1860 (Urbana, 1987) p. 199;
22. Richard B. Stott, Workers in the Metropolis: Class, Ethnicity, and Youth in Antebellum New York City (Ithaca, NY, 1990), pp. 182, 286.
23. See Jeanne Boydston, Home and Work: Housework, Wages, and the Ideology of Labor in the Early Republic (New York, 1990) on the importance of women's paid and unpaid labor to family economy.
24. Linda Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence (New York, 1988), p. 91; Stansell, City of Women, p. 12.
25. Linda Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives: The Politics and History of Family Violence (New York, 1988), p. 91; Stansell, City of Women, p. 12.
26. Journal of E.P. Smith, CAS Agent, 1853, Children's Aid Society, New York, entries dated Sept. 12, 26, 27.
27. All case records in the sample are from the Record Books of the Emigration Department of the Children's Aid Society of New York, 1853-1899. This study assigned a case record number to the records for each child in the sample of 432. The case record number (CR) consists of Record Book volume number and page number within the volume. For example, the cases mentioned in the text are from Record Book Volume 28, pages 323 and 324, which makes the case record numbers CR28.323 and CR28.324. In a few instances, more than one case record appears on a page; in these cases, a letter follows the case number (e.g., a, b, c) to indicate the order of the case on the page.
28. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe (New York, 1988); David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ, 1988); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto, 1988); Louise Tilly and Rachel Fuchs discuss Volker Hunecke's work in Journal of Family History vol. 17, no. 1, 1992, pp. 6-13; Barbara Brenzel, Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (Cambridge, MA, 1983).
29. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe (New York, 1988); David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ, 1988); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto, 1988); Louise Tilly and Rachel Fuchs discuss Volker Hunecke's work in Journal of Family History vol. 17, no. 1, 1992, pp. 6-13; Barbara Brenzel, Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (Cambridge, MA, 1983).
30. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe (New York, 1988); David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ, 1988); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto, 1988); Louise Tilly and Rachel Fuchs discuss Volker Hunecke's work in Journal of Family History vol. 17, no. 1, 1992, pp. 6-13; Barbara Brenzel, Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (Cambridge, MA, 1983).
31. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe (New York, 1988); David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ, 1988); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto, 1988); Louise Tilly and Rachel Fuchs discuss Volker Hunecke's work in Journal of Family History vol. 17, no. 1, 1992, pp. 6-13; Barbara Brenzel, Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (Cambridge, MA, 1983).
32. John Boswell, The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe (New York, 1988); David Ransel, Mothers of Misery: Child Abandonment in Russia (Princeton, NJ, 1988); Joan Sherwood, Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Spain: The Women and Children of the Inclusa (Toronto, 1988); Louise Tilly and Rachel Fuchs discuss Volker Hunecke's work in Journal of Family History vol. 17, no. 1, 1992, pp. 6-13; Barbara Brenzel, Daughters of the State: A Social Portrait of the First Reform School for Girls in North America, 1856-1905 (Cambridge, MA, 1983).
33. CR26.195.
34. CR3.065
35. CR10.034; CR10.036; CR10.035.
36. CR10.048; CR10.047.
37. CR10.375; CR10.376.
38. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 241-242; Smith's Journal, Sept. 22.
39. Brace, The Dangerous Classes, pp. 241-242; Smith's Journal, Sept. 22.
40. For an examination of boarding in the 19th Century, see: Michael B. Katz and Ian E. Davey, "Youth and Early Industrialization in a Canadian City," in John Demos and Sarane Spence Boocock, eds., Turning Points: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Family, reprints from American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84 supplement 1978 (Chicago, 1978); Michael B. Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West (Cambridge, Mass., 1975), ch. 5; Laurence A. Glasco, "The Life Cycles and Household Structure of American Ethnic Groups: Irish, Germans, and Native-born Whites in Buffalo, New York, 1855," in Tamara K. Hareven, ed., Family and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700-1930 (New York, 1977), pp. 122-143; John Modell and Tamara K. Hareven, "Urbanization and the Malleable Household: An Examination of Boarding and Lodging in American Families," in Hareven, Family and Kin, pp. 164-186.
41. For an examination of boarding in the 19th Century, see: Michael B. Katz and Ian E. Davey, "Youth and Early Industrialization in a Canadian City," in John Demos and Sarane Spence Boocock, eds., Turning Points: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Family, reprints from American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84 supplement 1978 (Chicago, 1978); Michael B. Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West (Cambridge, Mass., 1975), ch. 5; Laurence A. Glasco, "The Life Cycles and Household Structure of American Ethnic Groups: Irish, Germans, and Native-born Whites in Buffalo, New York, 1855," in Tamara K. Hareven, ed., Family and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700-1930 (New York, 1977), pp. 122-143; John Modell and Tamara K. Hareven, "Urbanization and the Malleable Household: An Examination of Boarding and Lodging in American Families," in Hareven, Family and Kin, pp. 164-186.
42. For an examination of boarding in the 19th Century, see: Michael B. Katz and Ian E. Davey, "Youth and Early Industrialization in a Canadian City," in John Demos and Sarane Spence Boocock, eds., Turning Points: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Family, reprints from American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84 supplement 1978 (Chicago, 1978); Michael B. Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West (Cambridge, Mass., 1975), ch. 5; Laurence A. Glasco, "The Life Cycles and Household Structure of American Ethnic Groups: Irish, Germans, and Native-born Whites in Buffalo, New York, 1855," in Tamara K. Hareven, ed., Family and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700-1930 (New York, 1977), pp. 122-143; John Modell and Tamara K. Hareven, "Urbanization and the Malleable Household: An Examination of Boarding and Lodging in American Families," in Hareven, Family and Kin, pp. 164-186.
43. For an examination of boarding in the 19th Century, see: Michael B. Katz and Ian E. Davey, "Youth and Early Industrialization in a Canadian City," in John Demos and Sarane Spence Boocock, eds., Turning Points: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Family, reprints from American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84 supplement 1978 (Chicago, 1978); Michael B. Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West (Cambridge, Mass., 1975), ch. 5; Laurence A. Glasco, "The Life Cycles and Household Structure of American Ethnic Groups: Irish, Germans, and Native-born Whites in Buffalo, New York, 1855," in Tamara K. Hareven, ed., Family and Kin in Urban Communities, 1700-1930 (New York, 1977), pp. 122-143; John Modell and Tamara K. Hareven, "Urbanization and the Malleable Household: An Examination of Boarding and Lodging in American Families," in Hareven, Family and Kin, pp. 164-186.
44. CR26.169.
45. CR23.130.
46. CR7.402.
47. Stansell, City of Women, pp. 118-119.
48. Stott, Workers in the Metropolis, p. 121.
49. Smith's Journal, May 24.
50. Stansell, City of Women, pp. 120-121, 166-167; CAS, Seventh Annual Report, 1860, pp. 6-7.
51. Stansell, City of Women, pp. 120-121, 166-167; CAS, Seventh Annual Report, 1860, pp. 6-7.
52. CAS, Eleventh Annual Report, 1864; Thirty-first Annual Report, 1884.
53. CAS, Eleventh Annual Report, 1864; Thirty-first Annual Report, 1884.
54. For an examination of the life and labor of domestic workers, see: Faye E. Dudden, Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America (Middletown, Ct., 1983), and David Katzman, Seven Days a Week (Urbana, IL, 1981); Stansell, City of Women, p. 167.
55. For an examination of the life and labor of domestic workers, see: Faye E. Dudden, Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America (Middletown, Ct., 1983), and David Katzman, Seven Days a Week (Urbana, IL, 1981); Stansell, City of Women, p. 167.
56. For an examination of the life and labor of domestic workers, see: Faye E. Dudden, Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America (Middletown, Ct., 1983), and David Katzman, Seven Days a Week (Urbana, IL, 1981); Stansell, City of Women, p. 167.
57. Katzman, Seven Days a Week, pp. 3-16.
58. CR26.428.
59. CR23.149; CR28.248.
60. National Conference of Charities and Correction, Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction 1879 (PNCCC), pp. 157-160; PNCCC 1882, pp. 147-155. Kristine E. Nelson in "The Best Asylum," pp. 233-238, provides an excellent overview of Midwestern opposition to the emigration program.
61. National Conference of Charities and Correction, Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction 1879 (PNCCC), pp. 157-160; PNCCC 1882, pp. 147-155. Kristine E. Nelson in "The Best Asylum," pp. 233-238, provides an excellent overview of Midwestern opposition to the emigration program.
62. National Conference of Charities and Correction, Proceedings of the National Conference of Charities and Correction 1879 (PNCCC), pp. 157-160; PNCCC 1882, pp. 147-155. Kristine E. Nelson in "The Best Asylum," pp. 233-238, provides an excellent overview of Midwestern opposition to the emigration program.
63. CR28.233.
64. CR26.204.
65. CR17.73.
66. CR26.432.
67. CR28.240.
68. CR23.149.
69. The child-saving impetus that prompted CAS's foster care program spawned parallel developments in adoption law in this same period. Adoption did not exist as a legal entity in America prior to the 1851 passage of the Massachusetts statute, "An Act to Provide for the Adoption of Children." Over the next twenty-five years, twenty-four states adopted similar statutes. For an historical overview of adoption, see Stephen Presser, "The Historical Background of the American Law of Adoption," Journal of Family Law 11 (1972): 443-516; John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony (New York, 1970), pp. 79-90; see also Jamil S. Zainaldin, "The Emergence of a Modern American Family Law: Child Custody, Adoption, and the Courts, 1796-1851," Northwestern University Law Review vol. 79, no. 6 (1979): 1038-1089.
70. The child-saving impetus that prompted CAS's foster care program spawned parallel developments in adoption law in this same period. Adoption did not exist as a legal entity in America prior to the 1851 passage of the Massachusetts statute, "An Act to Provide for the Adoption of Children." Over the next twenty-five years, twenty-four states adopted similar statutes. For an historical overview of adoption, see Stephen Presser, "The Historical Background of the American Law of Adoption," Journal of Family Law 11 (1972): 443-516; John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony (New York, 1970), pp. 79-90; see also Jamil S. Zainaldin, "The Emergence of a Modern American Family Law: Child Custody, Adoption, and the Courts, 1796-1851," Northwestern University Law Review vol. 79, no. 6 (1979): 1038-1089.
71. The child-saving impetus that prompted CAS's foster care program spawned parallel developments in adoption law in this same period. Adoption did not exist as a legal entity in America prior to the 1851 passage of the Massachusetts statute, "An Act to Provide for the Adoption of Children." Over the next twenty-five years, twenty-four states adopted similar statutes. For an historical overview of adoption, see Stephen Presser, "The Historical Background of the American Law of Adoption," Journal of Family Law 11 (1972): 443-516; John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony (New York, 1970), pp. 79-90; see also Jamil S. Zainaldin, "The Emergence of a Modern American Family Law: Child Custody, Adoption, and the Courts, 1796-1851," Northwestern University Law Review vol. 79, no. 6 (1979): 1038-1089.
72. CR23.151.
73. CR7.434; CR7.430.
74. Gordon, Heroes of Their Own Lives, pp. 27-29, discusses nineteenth-century reformers' views on cruelty to children and the ways in which those views influenced the development of the child-saving movement.
75. Brace, Dangerous Classes, pp. 241-242.
76. CR23.369.
77. See, for example, Stephen Thernstrom, Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City (Cambridge, MA, 1964); Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostoniens: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880-1970 (Cambridge, MA, 1973); Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West; John Bodnar, et. al. Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians, and Poles in Pittsburgh, 1900-1960 (Urbana, IL, 1981).
78. See, for example, Stephen Thernstrom, Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City (Cambridge, MA, 1964); Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostoniens: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880-1970 (Cambridge, MA, 1973); Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West; John Bodnar, et. al. Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians, and Poles in Pittsburgh, 1900-1960 (Urbana, IL, 1981).
79. See, for example, Stephen Thernstrom, Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City (Cambridge, MA, 1964); Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostoniens: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880-1970 (Cambridge, MA, 1973); Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West; John Bodnar, et. al. Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians, and Poles in Pittsburgh, 1900-1960 (Urbana, IL, 1981).
80. See, for example, Stephen Thernstrom, Poverty and Progress: Social Mobility in a Nineteenth Century City (Cambridge, MA, 1964); Stephen Thernstrom, The Other Bostoniens: Poverty and Progress in the American Metropolis, 1880-1970 (Cambridge, MA, 1973); Katz, The People of Hamilton, Canada West; John Bodnar, et. al. Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians, and Poles in Pittsburgh, 1900-1960 (Urbana, IL, 1981).
81. CR10.387; CR10.388; CR10.389.
82. CR7.592.
83. CR10.378; CR10.379.