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Adoption History

Revision as of 19:12, 11 December 2014 by Admin (Talk | contribs)

Welcome to our Adoption History wiki! The following articles are an attempt to cover the history of adoption services in the United States. Included in the references are social science and psychological studies, doctoral dissertations, conference proceedings, speeches, peer-reviewed journal articles, and books. The Adoption History articles cover a wide range of adoption topics such as the history of open and closed adoptions, foster care, orphanages, Native American adoptions, the Orphan Train Movement and so on. Most of the articles focus on the history taking place between the 1920s and today, but a lot of it goes back to the early 1800s. We hope that you find these articles informative and useful, especially if you are considering adoption in one form or another, or even if you are simply curious about the history of adoption practices in the United States. Enjoy.

Adoption in America before the Twentieth Century

In the early days of the nineteenth century (1800s), Americans had a vastly different view of the role of children, both as a part of society and as part of the family; especially when compared to the view that we have of the roles of children in our society today. During the nineteenth century, it was commonplace to find children from working class families in the . . .Read More

Open vs. Closed Adoption

Open Adoption

Adoptions have been open throughout most of US history. In fact, prior to the 1930s, most state governments did not have laws regulating the privacy of adoption records. Until that point, court records, birth certificates, adoption records, and other official documents, such as those related to a person’s marital status and court proceedings, were generally considered freely available to the public. Then, beginning in 1917, . . . [Read More]

Closed Adoption

Indian Child Welfare Act

(American Orphanages- Introduction)

During the Roaring Twenties

During the Great Depression

End of American Orphanages

Arguments to Bring them Back

Modern Alternatives to the Current Foster Care System

The School that Chocolate Built

A Town for Boys

Politics Around Modern Orphanage Debate

The Rise of Foster Care

Problems with the Current Foster Care System

(Benefits of the Current Foster Care System)

(During the Roaring Twenties)

(During the Great Depression)

(Today)