Lynn Franklin is a wonderful agent, and a friend who has always believed in this book.
I am very grateful to Philip Turner for his enthusiastic acquisition of the book, his editing, and his support. He’s an editor in the old-fashioned sense.
Thank you also to everyone at Carroll & Graf, particularly my editor, Bill Strachan, and Adelaide Docx and Keith Wallman.
Gail and Salvatore Amato are warm, funny, wonderful people. I am very lucky to know them.
Thank you, Tim Good.
And finally, I want to thank the most important people in my life: Beth Raymond Good, Tim Raymond, Bob Raymond, and Fred Greenman. I could not have completed this project without their support and love.
To all of these, and those I do not have the space to name, the most heartfelt thanks.
Index
A
ABC Radio Australia
abortion
abuse of children
emotional
physical
sexual
starvation
Adopted Children’s Association
adoptees
abused. see abuse of children
as blank slates
as commodities. see also
Christmas Baby ads
deaths. see deaths, of children
fantasies, of birth parents
methods of procuring
psychological problems. see psychological
problems, of adoptees
returned, by adoptive parents
reunited with family. see reunions
search for birth parents
as servants
Adoptees’ Liberty Movement Association
(ALMA)
adoption
closed. see records, falsified; records, sealed
fees
international
of lesbian partners
open. see also adoption reform
movement
popularized
and race
and religion
stigma. see also eugenics
Adoption in America Coming of Age (Aigner)
adoption laws
boarding homesfor children
California
and falsified records. see records, falsified
international
in other countries
reform. see adoption reform movement
sealed records. see records, sealed
Tennessee
Adoption Network Cleveland
adoption records
falsified. see records, falsified
sealed. see records, sealed
adoption reform movement.
see adoption reform movement
battle, for Tennessee reforms
obstacles to
Senate hearings
unsealing legislation, pending
Adoption Triangle, The (BaranPannorand
Sorosky) adoptive parents
blackmail and extortion of
celebrity. see celebrity adoptions
fear and insecurity
guilt
single women as
AdoptUsKids
African countries
Aid to Families with Dependent Children
(AFDC)
Aigner, Hal, Adoption in America Coming of
Age
Alexander Dave
Alice Chapin Agency
Allen, Deborah
Allen, Janet
Allyson, June
American Adoption Congress (AAC)
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)
American Mercury magazine
American Public Welfare Association
Andersen, Hans Christian
Andersson, Alfred
B
baby farms
baby selling
appeal of
and falsified records
international
modern
Baran, Annette
The Adoption Triangle
Barner, Joy
Bass, Mrs. Nat
Bastard Nation
Bastardy Acts
Bates, Samuel
Battered Child Syndrome study
Bayou Gayoso
Belfast Telegraph
Bellevue Hospital
Bernadino, Joe
Beth (author’s daughter)
adoption
birth parents
birth certificates, falsified. see records, falsi
fied
birth parents
accost Georgia Tann
of author’s daughter
meeting adoptive parents
reunited with children. see reunions
rights of
seek their children
single mothers. see single mothers
unmarried mothers. see single mothers
births, out of wedlock. see also
single mothers
black market. see
also baby selling
appeal of
blackmail
boarding homes, for children
Bolivar Home for the Feeble Minded
Bond Andre
Boston
Boston Children’s Aid Society
Boston marriages
Brace, Charles Loring
Dangerous Classes in New York City
bribery
Browning, Gordon
Buck, Pearl
Burdette, Ruby
C
Calhoun, Eugene
California adoption laws
Cardell, Ann
Carstens, Charles C.
Carter, Charles
Catholic Charities
Catledge, Turner
celebrity adoptionsx
Chandler, Walter
child labor
Child Welfare League of America
Children’s Bureau, United States
China
China Daily
Christmas Baby ads
Clapp, Aubrey
classified ads
Cleghorne, Roger
Coalition for Adoption Reform
Colorado
complaints, against Georgia Tann
Cook, Annie
corruption, in government
see also politicians, complicity of
Cravens, Boo
Crawford, Joan
Croswell, Clyde
Crump, Edward Hull
D
Daily Pantagraph
D’Alessandro, Lou
Dangerous Classes in New York City (Brace)
Davidson, Barbara
de la Fontaine, Elise
deaths, of children
from abuse
“Infant Mortality in Memphis” report
infanticide
Debs, Candy
Debs, Mrs. Ernest
Delaware
Delineator (magazine)
Depression era
Dixie Greyhound Bus Line
Donelson, Lewis
Dutch Mary
E
East, Arthur
East, Caprice
economy, Depression era
Elrod, Fannie
emotional problems, of adoptees. see psycho
logical problems, of adoptees
Engel, Albert J.
eugenics
Evers, Medgar
F
Faderman, Lillian, Odd Girls and Twilight
Lovers
Faith Home
falsification, of records. see records, falsified
feminism
financial aid, for single mothers
Finn, Vicci
Fisher Body Company
Fisher, Charles
Fisher, Florence Ladden
Forman, Rachel ZinoberLet Us Now Praise
Obscure Women
Fowlkes, Joe
Freeman, Solon
G
Galindo, Lauryn
Galton, Francis
gastrointestinal illne
ss
genetics. see also eugenics
vs. environment
Gilkey, Ada
Glad, Denny
Godeau, Carolyn
Good Housekeeping article
Goodwyn Institute
Gookin, Randall
Goth, Mary
graft and corruption
Green, Irene
Greenman, Fred
Gribble case
Guatemala
H
Hachmeister, Mrs. W. A.
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption
Hale, Billy
activism
death
“Someone Listen Please”
Hamilton, Elizabeth B.
Harper, Wallace
Harvey, Rose
hawaii
Hickory, Mississippi
Hill, Helen
Hindman, May
Hoard, Carolyn
Hollinsworth, Ann Atwood (Georgia’s
partner)
relationship with June
Hollywood adoptions
homelessness
homosexuality
of Georgia Tann
Hopkirk, Howard W.
How It Feels To Be Adopted (Krementz)
Huber, Elizabeth
I
identities, stolen, and psychological problems
illegitimacy. see also single mothers
indenture
Indiana
Indonesia
Industrial Revolution
“Infant Mortality in Memphis” report
infanticide
international adoption
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adop
tion
Interpol
Irwin sisters
J
Jack (Ann’s son)
Jackson, Jesse (Memphis florist)
Jolie, Angelina
June (Georgia’s adopted daughter)
K
Kate McWillie Powers Receiving Home for
Children
Kazakhstan
Keating, Colonel
Kefauver Committee
Kefauver, Estes
Kelley, Camille
Kendricks, Jack
Kenyon, Nellie
kidnappings
Kohn, Ben W.
Krafft-Ebing, Richard Freiherr von
Krementz, JillHow It Feels to Be Adopted
L
Lambert, Jim
Leath Orphanage
Lehman, Herbert
lesbianism
of Georgia Tann
Let Us Now Praise Obscure Women (Forman)
Lifton, Betty Jean, Twice Born
“Little Match Girl” (Andersen)
Livingston, Gordon S.
Long, Marie
Look magazine
Los Angeles Times
Love Home, for unwed mothers
Lovejoy, George
M
Madonna
Magnier, Mark
Maisie (Hickory resident)
Malaysia
Mancuso, Matthew
Margolis Mary
marriages, sham
Martha Washington College
Martin, J. B.
Mary (Barbara Davidson’s sister)
Masons (fraternal order)
Massachusetts
Mayflower (ship)
Mayo Clinic
medical records
Memphis Appeal (newspaper)
Memphis Bar Association
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Memphis Cotton Club
Memphis Family Welfare Agency
Memphis Press-Scimitar
Memphis, Tennessee
child mortality rate
conducting research in
corruption, in government
declared bankrupt
demographics altered
economy
organized crime
sewer system
yellow fever epidemics
Mental Hygiene (journal)
Meridian Star (newspaper)
Michigan
Miller, Roberta
Miller, Vallie
Missing Children’s Locate Center
Mississippi
adoption laws
Hickory. see Hickory, Mississippi
orphanages
Mississippi Children’s Home-Finding
Society
Mississippi Children’s Home Society
Kate McWillie Powers Receiving Home for
Children
Mississippi River
Mitchell, Carolyn
Mitler, Ernest
molestation. see abuse of children, sexual
Montana
Moore, Mollie Mae
Morlock, Maud
mortality, child. see deaths, of children
mothersunmarried. see single mothers
Mount Holyoke College
Mulcahy, Jim
N
NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People)
Nashville Tennessean
National Council for Adoption (NCFA)
Naylor, Heidi
Neff, Wanda Fraiken We Sing Diana
neglect of children
New China News Agency
New Hampshire
New York Children’s Aid Society
New York City
New York Foundling Hospital
New York Sun
New York Times
Newsome,Wilhelmina
Nickens, Jimmy
Nilan, Christine
nuns
O
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers (Faderman)
Oetinger, Katherine B.
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oppenheimer, Ella
organized crime
Orphan Train resettlement
Orphan Voyage
orphanages
Owens, Mary
P
Paine, Rowlett
Pannell, Cleveland and Shirley Ann
Pannell, Joe
PannorReuben
The Adoption Triangle
parenting, adoptive
parents, birth. see birth parents
Paton, Jean
pedophiles. see abuse of children, sexual
Petersen, Robert
Phillips, Earlene
poem, of abuse survivor
political corruption, in Memphis
politicians, complicity of
poll tax
poorhouses
Porter Home
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
see also psychological prob
lems, of adoptees
Powell, Dick
international
psychological problems, of adoptees
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Q
Quillen, Evelyn
R
race, and adoption
Randalls Island
Reader’s Digest
records, falsified
and baby selling
records, nonexistent
records, opened, in Tennessee
records, sealed
medical records
Reed, Mary
religion, and adoption
religious orders
reunions
Reuters news agency
Rice, Frank “Roxie”
Right To Know, The
Riis, Jacob
Robertson, Pat
romantic friendships
Roosevelt, Eleanor
Rose, Helen
Russell, Edward
Russia
S
Salvation Army
Saturday Evening Post
Savin, Barbara
Schibbelhutte, Paul
Schlothauer, Pat
search expert
searching for birth parents. see adoptees
search for bi
rth parents
Semmes, Sarah
Senate hearings
servitude, for children
sewer system, Memphis
sexism
sexual abuse
increased awareness
survivor’s poem
Shoaf, William
Simmons, Virginia
Simon, Bessie
Sims, Leon
single mothers. see
also birth parents
adoptive
financial aid
personal stories
sham marriages
as unfit
Sister Ruth
Sisters of Charity
Sisters of the Good Shepherd
Minutes
slavery, of orphans
Small World Ministries
Smith College
Smith, Fred
social work
“Someone Listen Please” (Hale)
Sorosky, Arthur, The Adoption Triangle
SouthF. E. A.
South Korea
Soviet Union, former
Spence Alumnae Society
Spence Chapin Agency
starvation
Stateler, Josie
Stoves, Mildred
Stratton, Gerald
Sunsetthe Pacific Monthly
T
Tann, Beulah Yates (Georgia’s mother)
Tann family
Tann, George C. (Georgia’s father)
Tann, Georgia
adopted daughter
appearance
career
complaints against
early career
early life
education
fame
first adoption
illness and death
investigated
June (Georgia’s adopted daughter)
legacy of
obituaries
as pedophile
personality
prolific placements
run out of town
sexual orientation
takes control
wealth acquired
Tann homestead
Tann, Rob Roy (Georgia’s adopted brother)
Tannwood (Georgia’s estate)
Taylor, Robert
Tennessee
adoption laws
Memphis. see Memphis, Tennessee
Tennessee Children’s Bureau
Tennessee Children’s Home Society
closed
complaints against
mortality rate
Tennessee Coalition for Adoption Reform
Tennessee Department of Public Welfare
Tennessee Public Welfare Record
Trammell, Kathryn
transracial adoption
Traveler’s Aid Society
Trotter, Susan
Truman, Harry
Turner, Lana
Twice Born (Lifton)
U
Ukraine
University of Tennessee
unmarried mothers. see single mothers
Ursuline nuns
V
Vanderbilt University Hospital
Vassar College
Vermont