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Sources are the raw materials that historians use to write history. This
site offers a range of primary sources—published and unpublished
documents as well as images—that begin to fill in the picture of
adoption’s past, illuminating topics, people, organizations, and
studies that shaped adoption theory and practice during the twentieth
century. Visitors interested in the location of unpublished sources can
find these in a list of archival sources.
Individual documents are listed alphabetically by author below. In a
few cases, they are listed by title. They can all be reached through other
sections of the site, but they are also presented together here for those
with a special interest in the documentary record itself. A selection
of additional sources—not excerpted on the site itself—can
be found in Further Reading.
Adopt-A-Child, Confidential Report, December
19, 1955
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act
of 1980
An Agency Considers Its Policies on Infertility,
1943
Agency for International Development, Operation
Babylift Report, 1975
Agency Philosophy and Policy Regarding the “Telling”
of Adoption, 1966
ALMA et al v. Lefkowitz et al,
1977
Catherine S. Amatruda and Joseph V.
Baldwin, “Current Adoption Practices,” 1951
Carole J. Anderson, “Child Abuse &
Adoption,” 1991
Anonymous, “An Adopted Mother Speaks,”
1922
Anonymous, “How It Feels
to Have Been an Adopted Child,” 1920
Bernadine Barr, “Estimates of
Numbers of Children in Institutions, Foster Family Care, and Adoptive
Homes, 1910-1960”
Bastard Nation, Mission Statement, 1996
Bastard Nation, “Open Records: Why
It's an Issue,” 1999
Bastard Nation, “Why It's Great
to Be a Bastard”
E. L. Beckwith to Grace Abbott,
June 21, 1931
Viola W. Bernard, “Adoption
as a Model for Community/Social Child Psychiatry,” 1998
Viola W. Bernard, “Application
of Psychoanalytic Concepts to Adoption Agency Practice,” 1953
Viola W. Bernard, Can an Adopted
Child Replace a Dead Child? 1961
Viola W. Bernard, A Probable Case
of Psychogenic Infertility, 1942
Viola W. Bernard, Review of a
Manuscript About the Incidence of Psychiatric Problems in Adoptees, 1986
Charles Loring Brace, The Dangerous Classes
of New York & Twenty Years' Work Among Them, 1872
Ethel E. Branham, The Los Angeles County Bureau
of Adoptions Reflects on Its Transracial Adoption Program, 1964
Ethel Branham, “One Parent
Adoptions,” 1970
Charles E. Brown, “Agency Seeks
Homes for Negro Kids, Single Persons May Adopt,” 1966
Pearl Buck, “The Children Waiting: The Shocking
Scandal of Adoption,” 1955
Pearl Buck, “I Am the Better Woman for Having
My Two Black Children,” 1972
Edmond J. Butler, “Standards of Child
Placing and Supervision,” 1919
Miss Elizabeth Campbell to Bessie Irvin,
April 4, 1956
The Case of Alice R., 1927
The Case of Michael B, 1965
The Case of Miss M, 1944-1945
Henry Dwight Chapin, “Family
vs. Institution,” 1926
Child Citizenship Act of 2000
Child Welfare League of America, “Adoptions:
A Statement of the Problem,” 1937
Child Welfare League of America, “Adoption
Terminology,” 1980s
Child Welfare League of America, Constitution,
1921
Child Welfare League of America, “Definition
of Child Welfare,” 1957
Child Welfare League of America Memo, “Description
of Children Who Were Referred For Adoptive Placement and Considered Difficult
to Place,” 1955
Child Welfare League of America, “Minimum
Safeguards in Adoption,” 1938
Child Welfare League of America, “Proposal
for Analysis of the Sealed Adoption Record Issue,” 1973
Child Welfare League of America, Rating
Sheet for Prospective Parents, 1962
Child Welfare League of America Special
Bulletin, “A Study of Board Rates,” January 1942
Child Welfare League of America, Standards
for Adoption Service, 1958
Child Welfare League of America, Standards
for Foster Family Care Service, 1959
Children’s Home Society of Florida, Home
Investigation Report Form, 1910s
“Children's Story Needs an Ending . . . Adoption
Could Make It So!” 1956
Florence Clothier, “The Psychology
of the Adopted Child,” 1943
Florence Clothier to Mary Ruth Colby
on “Permanent Love Objects,” January 14, 1941
Margaret Cobb, “The Mentality of Dependent
Children,” 1922
Concerned United Birthparents, “Separated
By Adoption? What Is CUB?”
Confidential Medical Report on Fertility Status
of Prospective Adoptive Couple, early 1940s
Reverend S.S. Cummings, New England Home for
Little Wanderers' Orphan Train
Neva R. Deardorff, The Children's Commission
of Pennsylvania Studies Adoption, 1925
Department of Defense Position Regarding Children
Born Out of Wedlock, 1971
Helene Deutsch, “Adoptive Mothers,”
1945
Discussion of the Role of Anthropology in Transracial
Adoptions, 1956
Kathleen d'Olier, “Case
Work with the Unmarried Father,” 1937
Annie Hamilton Donnell, “The Adopted,”
1906
Helen Doss, The Family Nobody Wanted,
1954
Helen Doss, “Our International Family,”
1949
Gloria Emerson, “Operation Babylift,”
1975
David Fanshel, Far From the Reservation,
1972
Marshall Field, Child Welfare League of America
President, Address to National Conference on Adoptions, 1955
Clarence Fischer, “Homes For Black Children,”
1970
Abraham Flexner, “Is Social Work a Profession?”
1915
Earnest Fowler to Mrs. Squires, Washington
City Orphan Asylum, November 1, 1910
Helen Fradkin, “Outline for
Adoption Studies,” 1954
Richard Frank, “What the Adoption Worker
Should Know About Infertility,” 1956
Anna Freud and Dorothy Burlingham,
Infants Without Families, 1944
Sigmund Freud, “Family Romances,”
1909
Harriet Fricke, “Interracial Adoption:
The Little Revolution,” 1965
Arnold Gesell, “Child Adoptions in Connecticut,”
1939
Arnold Gesell, “Pre-School Children
Deprived of Parental Care,” 1923
Arnold Gesell, “Psychoclinical Guidance
in Child Adoption,” 1926
Henry H. Goddard, “Wanted:
A Child to Adopt,” 1911
Petition of Goldman,
1954
Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud, and
Albert J. Solnit, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child, 1973
Arthur Alden Guild, “Baby Farms in Chicago,”
1917
Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption,
1993
Agnes K. Hanna, “The Interrelationship
Between Illegitimacy and Adoption,” 1937
Frederick Hanson and John Rock, “The
Effect of Adoption on Fertility and Other Reproductive Functions,”
1950
Harry F. Harlow, “Love in Infant Monkeys,”
1959
Reverend Hastings H. Hart, “Placing Out
Children in the West,” 1884
Rollin Hartt to Helen Sumner, May 10, 1915
Harry Holt's 'Dear Friends' letter,
1955
Mrs. Harry Holt, The Seed from the
East, 1956
“Homes Needed For 10,000 Brown Orphans,”
1948
How Do Adult Adoptees Feel About Illegitimacy?
1968
How Should Agencies Handle the Rejection of Adoption
Applicants? 1950
Dorothy Hutchinson, “Factors
to Consider in Family Study,” late 1940s
Indian Adoption Project Evaluation, 1958 through
1967
Indian Child Welfare Act, 1978
International Social Service Memo, “Home
Study Material for Intercountry Adoption Applications,” 1957
International Social Service Memo, “Telephone
Calls Concerning Adoption,” 1957
International Social Service, “Proxy Adoptions,”
1954-1956
Rael Jean Isaac, “What the Agency
Looks For,” 1965
Benson Jaffee and David Fanshel, How They
Fared in Adoption, 1970
Ann Johnston, “Our Negro Daughter,”
1960
Alfred Kadushin, “Single-Parent
Adoptions: An Overview and Some Relevant Research” 1970
Randall Kennedy, “Orphans of Separatism:
The Painful Politics of Transracial Adoption,” 1994
H. David Kirk, Shared Fate: A Theory of Adoption
and Mental Health, 1964
Joan Lawrence, “The Truth Hurt Our
Adopted Daughter,” 1963
Ruth W. Lawton and J. Prentice Murphy, “A
Study of Results of a Child-Placing Society,” 1915
Elizabeth A. Lee to Katharine
F. Lenroot, August 6, 1931
Katharine F. Lenroot, “Case Work with
Unmarried Parents and Their Children,” 1925
Katharine F. Lenroot to Eleanor Roosevelt
on The Cradle, March 4, 1944
Letters from Adults and Children to the U.S.
Children's Bureau, 1918-1943
Letters from Prospective Adopters to Arnold
Gesell, 1939-1950
Louise Wise Services, Different Eligibility Requirements
for Different Children, 1961
Louise Wise Services, “Our Indian Program,”
1960
Louise Wise Services, Placement Contract, early 1960s
Louise Wise Services, Press Release
Announcing Recruitment of White Parents for Black Children, 1963
Louise Wise Services, Sealed Records
in Adoption, 1975
Charlotte Lowe, “Intelligence
and Social Background of the Unmarried Mother,” 1927
Arnold Lyslo, “Impressions on Meeting the
Harry Holt Plane,” 1958
Arnold Lyslo, “Suggested Criteria to Evaluate
Families to Adopt American Indian Children Through the Indian Adoption
Project,” 1962
Massachusetts Adoption of Children Act, 1851
Penelope L. Maza, “Adoption Trends:
1944-1975”
Muriel McCrea, “The Mix-Match Controversy,”
1967
Lewis Meriam to Hastings Hart,
July 28, 1915
Minnesota Adoption Law, 1917
Maud Morlock, “Determination and Establishment
of Paternity,” 1940
National Adoption Information Clearinghouse,
“The Adoption Home Study Process,” 2004
National Adoption Information Clearninghouse,
“Single Parent Adoption: What You Need to Know” (1994)
National Association of Black Social Workers,
“Position Statement on Trans-Racial Adoption,” September 1972
National Committee for Adoption, “About
Adoption and Privacy of Records,” 1982
National Council for Adoption, “Protecting
the Option of Privacy in Adoption”
Navajo Tribal Council, “Tribal Policy
on Adoption of Navajo Orphans and Abandoned or Neglected Children,”
1960
Peter B. Neubauer, “The
One-Parent Child and His Oedipal Development,” 1960
New York Coalition for Families, "Beyond the
Best Interests of the Child Is Being Used to Legitimize the Destruction
of Poor Black and Hispanic Families," mid-1970s
New York State Charities Aid Association,
Records of Foster Home Investigations, 1910s
New York Times
ad about “Operation Babylift,” 1975
North American Center on Adoption, Position
Papers—Search (Opening Sealed Records), 1975
Phan Ngoc-Quoi to Miriam Lewis, International
Social Service Case Consultant, April 27, 1966
Opportunity, National Survey of Black
Children Adopted in 1972
Oregon Ballot Measure 58, 1998
Ida Parker, Fit and Proper?, 1927
Jean M. Paton, The Adopted Break Silence,
1954
Jean M. Paton, Orphan Voyage,
1968
Helen Lucile Pearson, “Child Adoption
in Indiana,” 1925
Susan Pettiss to Rosalind Giles, February
8, 1957
Placing Children of Unknown Background and the
Problem of Matching, 1951
Justine Wise Polier, “Attitudes and Contradictions
in Our Culture,” 1960
Justine Wise Polier, “A Memorandum
Concerning Child Adoption Across Religions Lines,” 1955
Justine Wise Polier to Riki Kosut, October
13, 1978
Paul Popenoe, “The Foster Child,”
1929
Carol S. Prentice, An Adopted
Child Looks at Adoption, 1940
Purinton v. Jamrock,
1907
The “R” Family Case (Catholic Charities),
1941
Sheldon Reed, Dight Institute for Human Genetics
to R.T. Wilbur, Des Moines, Iowa Division of Child Welfare, November 26,
1957
Sheldon C. Reed, “Skin Color,” 1955
Sheldon Reed and Esther B. Nordlie,
“Genetic Counseling: For Children of Mixed Racial Ancestry,”
1961
Joseph Reid to Paul Smith, September 15, 1955
Loretta Renn, “The Single Woman as a Foster Mother,” 1948
Report on the First International
Conference on Transracial Adoption, 1969
Chauncey Richardson to Washington City
Orphan Asylum, March 12, 1912
Virginia Robinson, “Analysis of Processes
in the Records of Family Case Working Agencies,” 1921
Sample Letter to Families Applying for Infants
Where the Woman is Over 40 Years of Age, early 1940s
Michael Schapiro, A Study of Adoption Practice,
Adoption of Children With Special Needs, 1956
Marshall D. Schechter, “Observations
on Adopted Children,” 1960
Joan F. Shireman and Penny R. Johnson,
“Single Persons as Adoptive Parents,” 1976
Slingerland, Child-Placing in
Families, 1919 [on “Feeble-Minded” Children]
Slingerland, Child-Placing in Families,
1919 [on Matching]
Smith v. OFFER
(Organization of Foster Families for Equality and Reform), 1977
from the Archives of Spence-Chapin Adoption Service,
1916
Benjamin Spock, “Adopting a Child,”
1946
Stanley v. Illinois,
1972
Statement on the Immorality of Bringing South
Vietnamese Orphans to the United States, April 4, 1975
Albert H. Stoneman, “Adoption of Illegitimate
Children: The Peril of Ignorance,” 1926
Jessie Taft, Children's Aid Society of Pennsylvania,
Annual Report, 1921
Jessie Taft, “Early Conditioning
of Personality in the Pre-School Child,” 1925
Jessie Taft, “The Re-Education
of a Psychoneurotic Girl,” 1925
Jessie Taft, “Relation of Personality Study
to Child Placing,” 1919
Jessie Taft, “The Woman Movement from
the Point of View of Social Consciousness,” 1916
Sophie van Senden Theis, How Foster Children
Turn Out, 1924
Sophie van Senden Theis and Constance Goodrich,
The Child in the Foster Home, 1921
Kitte Turmell, “How We Told Our Adopted
Children,” 1950
Two Adoption Home Studies,
1949 and 1950
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
1989
U.S. Census Bureau, “Census
2000 Special Reports, Adopted Children and Stepchildren: 2000”
U.S. Children's Bureau, Adoption Laws
in the United States, 1925
U.S. Children's Bureau, “The Confidential
Nature of Birth Records,” 1949
U.S. Children's Bureau Memo, “Investigation
of Adoptions, etc.” 1915
U. S. Children's Bureau, Memo About Conditions
at a Baby Farm, 1918
U.S. Children’s Bureau,
Research on the Dangers of Illegitimacy, 1917
Margaret A. Valk, “Adjustment of Korean-
American Children in Their American Adoptive Homes,” 1957
Martha Vansant, “The Life of the Adopted
Child,” 1933
Matter of Vardinakis,
1936
Valentina P. Wasson, The Chosen Baby,
1939
Amey Eaton Watson, “The Illegitimate
Family,” 1918
White House Conference Subcommittee Discussion
of “Adoption,” 1959
Louise Waterman Wise, “Mothers in Name,”
1920
Helen Witmer et al, Independent Adoptions:
A Follow-Up Study, 1963
A World War II Soldier Seeks Information About
His Background, 1943
Leontine Young, “Personality
Patterns in Unmarried Mothers,” 1945-1947
A Young Man in Search of His
Parents, 1913
Joseph L. Zarefsky, “Children
Acquire New Parents,” 1946
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