Home Away From Home

by McKenzie, Richard B.

• ISBN13: 9781594032455
• ISBN10: 1594032459
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-12-22
• Publisher: Encounter Books

Summary

For most people, the word "orphanage" conjures up images of poor little Oliver Twist pleading for more gruel. Many are convinced that the history of orphanages is a social welfare record of total devastation to the lives of the children who grew up in them. Indeed, many of the scholars who contributed to Home Away From Home began their research with the conventional negative view of orphanages. But they arrived at far more balanced assessments of the historical record: while the orphanages studied were not perfect, they were often good solutions to dire conditions for children. The future of America's most vulnerable citizens is on the line, says Richard B. McKenzie, the editor of this volume. Today's government-run child welfare system is detrimental to tens of thousands of children. Foster care, intended as a temporary solution, has turned into permanent but inadequate care for many. While adoption is a solution for some children, others are difficult to place or legally unavailable for permanent placement. In re-examining the surprising success of orphanages in the past, Home Away From Home highlights the great value of providing a truly stable environment for youngsters, and it explains how orphanages might again be a powerfully beneficial social institution.

Author Biography

RICHARD B. MCKENZIE grew up at the Barium Springs Home for Children in Piedmont, North Carolina. His experience there led him to write The Home: A Memoir of Growing Up in an Orphanage (1996) and to edit Rethinking Orphanages for the 21st Century (1998). He has also produced Homecoming: The Forgotten World of America’s Orphanages, which has aired on PBS stations across the country. He is the Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Irvine.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Orphanages in History and the Modern Child Welfare Setting: An Overview	p. 1
The Early History of Orphanages: From Constantinople to Venice	p. 23
Christian Charity and the Politics of Orphan Care in the Dutch Republic	p. 43
Mooseheart: "The Child City"	p. 63
A Home of Another Kind: An Orphanage in the Midst of Chicago's Elite	p. 93
Fates of Orphans: Poor Children in Antebellum Charleston	p. 127
The Transformation of Catholic Orphanages: Cleveland, 1851-1996	p. 153
Baltimore's Nineteenth-Century Orphanages	p. 179
The Orphan Trains as an Alternative to Orphanages	p. 205
Orphanages as a National Institution: History and Its Lessons	p. 227
Contributors	p. 249
Notes	p. 255
Bibliography	p. 285
Index	p. 323
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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