The Baby Thief
Page 26
94: “‘Miss Tann did for’ . . . adopted through her”: Neill, October 1978, pp. 50-51.
94: “But she spent her . . . across the country”: Press-Scimitar, September 12, 1951, “Tann Heirs Target of State Suit.”
94: “Ann’s ‘love for Miss Tann . . . she called ‘Sister’ ”: Nashville Tennessean, October 25, 1950, “Georgia Tann Campaigned Against Baby Rackets.”
94–95: “when the two fought . . . candy and flowers”: Interview with Robert Taylor, 1992.
95: “She was about . . . weighed about 155 pounds”: Interview with Hickory, Mississippi, resident.
95: “‘Her ability to make those . . . point was commanding’”: Press-Scimitar, September 15, 1950, “Miss Tann Dies During Inquiry.”
95: “‘Her word was law’”: Nashville Tennessean, October 24, 1950, “Adoption Home Head’s Power Fostered Domineering Attitude.”
96: “‘Miss Tann put her . . . private life as well’”: Press-Scimitar, September 15, 1950, “Miss Tann Dies During Inquiry.”
96: “one of her legs to be shorter”: Nashville Tennessean, October 27, 1950, “Charity Forgotten in Miss Tann’s Will.”
96: “‘dope’”: Nashville Tennessean, October 27, 1950, “Charity Forgotten in Miss Tann’s Will.”
96: “probably morphine”: Interview with Hilda Deane, 1992.
97: “She wore tailored suits . . . print blouses”: Newspaper photographs of Georgia Tann.
97: “black shoes with low Cuban heels”: Interview with Christine Nilan, 1992; newspaper photographs of Georgia Tann.
97: “Her nails were manicured . . . no other cosmetics”: Interview with Mary Hindman, 1992.
97: “She wore one piece of jewelry . . . worn off her face”: Interview with Mary Hindman, 1992; newspaper photographs of Georgia Tann.
97: “Her eyes were blue . . . willpower and resolve”: Interview with Hickory, Mississippi, residents.
97: “Her fearlessness was best . . . ‘I wasn’t afraid’”: Nashville Tennessean, October 24, 1950, “Adoption Home Head’s Power Fostered Domineering Attitude.”
97: “And at least twice . . . was unperturbed”: Interview with Louise Loop, 1993; The Commercial Appeal, December 6, 1979, “Helping Hands Guide Mother, Son to Reunion.”
97: “Ann had grown . . . Georgia’s hometown”: Interview with Maureen Wood, 2007.
97: “Her parents and Georgia’s were good friends”: Interview with Hickory, Mississippi, resident, 1993.
97–98: “But by 1920 . . . the Receiving Home”: Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920—Population Jackson City, Hinds County, Mississippi.
98: “Letterhead for the . . . ‘Miss George Tann’”: Letterhead for the Mississippi Children’s Home Society; interview with Maureen Wood, 2007.
98: “U.S. Census records . . . as ‘George Tann’”: Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920—Population Jackson City, Hinds County, Mississippi.
99: “When he died . . . for several weeks”: Interview with May Hindman, 1992.
99: “as did Ann . . . Georgia’s mother, Beulah”: Interview with Lorene Cole, 1992; Interviews with Hickory, Mississippi residents.
99: “Beulah frequently boarded . . . home in Hickory”: Interviews with Hickory, Mississippi, residents.
99: “After June graduated . . . children to adoptive homes”: Interview with Lorene Cole, 1992.
99: “Passed in 1852 . . . action of a court”: General Assembly—Public Acts of Tennessee 1851-52, ch. 338, sec. 2.
100: “She didn’t investigate . . . adopt a child”: Interview with Vallie Miller, 1992; interviews with Robert Taylor, 1992, 1993; interview with former Children’s Bureau social worker, 1992.
100: “Fortunately for Georgia, Boss Crump controlled the state legislature”: See The Commercial Appeal, October 17, 1954, “Influence of Crump in State Had Waned”: “Mr. Crump’s power extended into the Legislature, enabling him to name speakers and leaders and to decide what bills should be enacted. His trusted lieutenants were on the scene in the halls calling the signals dictated by telephone from the man in Memphis.” For further evidence of Crump’s control within Memphis and the entire state, see The Economist, “Manipulation in Memphis,” August 21, 1943, p. 236. “Crump controls the Bar Association. Crump has named most of the judges in Shelby County. He named the federal judge. For the first time, he has named a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court. . . . Crump controls the schools, the American Legion, the civic clubs.”
100: “in 1937 a law . . . out-of-state residents”: Public Acts of Tennessee, ch. no. 310, House Bill no. 1712.
100: “The new legislation . . . a notary public”: Public Acts of Tennessee, ch. no. 151, House Bill no. 964.
100: “The statewide director . . . bullied by Georgia”: Georgia’s agency was a branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society. But she ran it as an independent unit, under a separate charter, which she obtained in 1941, and she had her own, self-perpetuating board of directors: Nashville Banner, September 29, 1950, “End of Memphis Agency’s Independence is Urged”; Charter Book Misc. Y, p. 105, June 28, 1941, State Attorney General’s Office.
101: “A provision added to . . . by the state”: Public Acts of Tennessee 1917, ch. 120, House Bill no. 1276.
101: “For some reason, representatives of . . . apply for a license”: Miller, V., p. 43.
101: “a fact that made every adoption . . . illegal”: The Commercial Appeal, September 26, 1950, “Suit By State Ties Up Adoption Home Here,” interview with Robert Taylor, 1992.
101: “Secrecy would be . . . Tennessee Department of Public Welfare”: October 6, 1944, letter from Abe Waldauer to E. W. McGovern; March 7, 1949, letter from Abe Waldauer to Charles Cornelius.
101: “to Welfare Departments . . . she placed children”: Letter from Abe Waldauer to Jack R. Aron, July 14, 1947; letter from Abe Waldauer to Jack R. Aron, July 16, 1947; letter from Abe Waldauer to Jack R. Aron, July 18, 1947; letter from Abe Waldauer to Jerome Steiner, July 23, 1947; letter from Abe Waldauer to Irving Goldfarb, January 5, 1948.
101: “Georgia wished to . . . adoptions that occurred”: Interview with a former Children’s Bureau social worker who requested anonymity.
101–102: “A social worker . . . adopt one through Georgia”: Ibid.
103: “Georgia was vague . . . in February of 1921”: Letter from Georgia Tann to Abe Wal dauer, June 6, 1934.
104: “But it’s patently . . . reduced the children’s age”: Interview with Robert Taylor, 1992; interview with Vallie Miller, 1992; interview with Roy Dickson, 1992; interview with Betty Jo Mitchell, 1992; interview with Janeice Lambert, 2006.
104–105: “That Georgia and Ann were . . . ‘as if born to her’”: Petition In Re Adoption of Ann Atwood Hollinsworth in the Probate Court of Dyer County, Tennessee, to the Honorable Robert D. Jones, Judge of the County Court, Dyer County, Tennessee, August 2, 1943, Minute Book 10, pp. 39-40.
105: “And it was more critical . . . have been before”: Faderman, p. 35.
105: “‘Intimacy between two girls . . . her feminine counterpart’”: Ibid.
105: “Romantic friendships . . . deemed lesbian partnerships”: Ibid.
106: “‘Even in her earliest . . . a woman’s body’”: Evans, pp. 177-178.
108: “Joan Crawford” (adopted through Georgia Tann): New York Post, September 13, 1950, “Bare $1,000: Tennessee Baby Mill.”
108: “June Allyson, Dick Powell” (adopted through Georgia Tann): Nashville Tennessean, September 13, 1950, “Shelby Lawyer To Head Probe of Baby Market.”
108: “Pearl Buck (adopted through Georgia Tann): Interview with Robert Taylor, 1992.
108: “Lana Turner (adopted through Georgia Tann)”: Nashville Banner, September 13, 1950, “Board Calls for Facts.”
108: “New York Governor Herbert Lehman (adopted through Georgia)”: Neill, Oct. 1978, p. 39.
108: “‘high type’”: undated, c. 1938, rebuttal by Georgia Tann of complaints regarding her
adoption methods.
108: “There were more . . . Tennessee in 1929”: Door, p. 3.
109: “After the children . . . of her office”: The Commercial Appeal, September 29, 1939, “TCHS-Memphis Recognized as Legal Adoption Agency by the State.”
109: “Her own adopted . . . blue-eyed baby, too”: Interview with Vicci Finn, 1993.
109–110: “Judge Camille Kelley . . . ‘children from her’”: Interview with a Memphis resident who requested anonymity, 1993.
110: “One, which ran . . . ‘and awful lonesome’”: Press-Scimitar, November 21, 1930, “Wants Home.”
110: “Another ad, published . . . ‘Yours for the Asking!’”: Press-Scimitar, December 7, 1935, “Yours For the Asking!”
112: “I read a nationally . . . ‘Richard Practice-House’”: AP, December 13, 1929, “Co-Ed Mothers May Lose Baby.”
112: “According to an . . . making ends meet”: Press-Scimitar, December 2, 1937, “Christmas Presents.”
113: “‘Want a real . . . to place these babies’”: Press-Scimitar, December 9, 1929, “25 Babies Will Be Christmas Gifts.”
113: “A variation of the ad . . . ‘are in the majority’”: Press-Scimitar, December 10, 1929, “Christmas Presents.”
113: “Within ten minutes . . . of the children”: Press-Scimitar, December 2, 1937, “We Have a Christmas Gift for You—A Baby.”
114: “‘Could YOU Use a Christmas Baby’”: Press-Scimitar, 1929.
114: “‘Which [of three infant boys] Will You Have for Christmas?’”: Press-Scimitar, December 4, 1930.
114: “‘Are You in the Market for a 14-Month-Old Boy?’”: Press-Scimitar, December 11, 1930, “Eddie is Ready To Move.”
114: “‘Put Your Orders in Early’”: Press-Scimitar, December 14, 1932, “Another Baby Christmas Gift.”
114: “‘Dan, Jimmy, Ray . . . Want One of Them?’”: Press-Scimitar, December 11, 1931.
114: “They resulted not only in . . . list of sorts”: Press-Scimitar, December 4, 1930, “25 Tots Ready To Make Tri-State Homes Happy”: Press-Scimitar, December 11, 1930, “Begin Choosing Babies’ Homes: 200 Persons Want 25 ‘Gifts’ From Society.”
115: “bouncing in a baby swing”: Press-Scimitar, December 11, 1931, “Dan, Jimmy, Ray—Want One of Them?”
115: “teething on a crib rail”: Press-Scimitar, December 15, 1931, “Three Yule ‘Packages’ Hunting For Home.”
115: “cuddling a doll”: Press-Scimitar, December 9, 1932, “Christmas Means a Lot to Patsy.”
115: “porcelain figurine”: Press-Scimitar, December 16, 1930, “Looking for a Mother, Dad.”
115: “as was Master Paul . . . ‘seven months old and blond’”: Press-Scimitar, December 14, 1929, “Paul Isn’t One Bit Embarrassed.”
115: “Georgia’s ads made . . . of their family”: Press-Scimitar, December 14, 1929, “Christmas Babies Make Hit.”
115: “By 1935, she . . . Canada, and England”: Press-Scimitar, December 2, 1937, “A Christmas Gift for You—A Baby.”
115: “Her intention was . . . by selling babies”: Berebitsky, pp. 50-74.
116: “She spent no time . . . child was advertised”: Press-Scimitar, December 9, 1930, “Christmas Baby Is Given Home.”
116: “In 1928, Georgia . . . handled 206 adoptions”: Press-Scimitar, March 11, 1928, “Clearing House of City’s Orphans Always Busy.”
116: “That same year . . . arranged only eighty-three”: Annual Reports of the Spence Alumnae Society, 1938, and of the Alice Chapin Nursery, 1928.
116: “the Boston Children’s . . . was five”: A Report of the Children’s Aid Association of Boston, “Our 1937 Children,” May 1938.
117: “Three times more . . . sturdy field hands”: Zelizer, p. 149.
117: “But when the Christmas baby series was syndicated”: Interview with Betty Jo Mitchell, 1992; interview with Barbara Sabin, 1993; letter from Georgia Tann to C. C. Carstens, January 20, 1937.
118: “When Georgia received . . . a total of $766”: Source for financial figures, Press Scimitar, February 19, 1950, “Heiskill Files Bill Charging Miss Tann with ‘Unlawful’ Use of Funds.”
119: “Instead, Georgia or . . . to their new parents”: One adoptee described seeing several waiting, prospective adoptive parents in the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles:
Interview with Heidi Naylor; The Commercial Appeal, January 28, 1980, “Brother, 2 Sisters Reunited After 32-Year Separation.”
119: “In at least one case . . . her actual expenses”: New York Post, September 14, 1950.
120: “‘Lose yourselves’”: Letter from Nora Quain Deuel to Abe Waldauer, March 3, 1943.
120: “Adoptive parents also must . . . filed by birth parents”: Press-Scimitar, November 20, 1937, “Dad Who Gave Away Children Wants Them Back—Court Says No”; Press-Scimitar, April 29, 1940, “Claims Society Misled Her and Took Child”; Press-Scimitar, 1947, “Unwed Mother Asks Return of Baby”; The Commercial Appeal, August 30, 1947, “Unwed Mother Plans New Fight for Child”; Press Scimitar, March 24, 1951, “Child Placement Illegal, Welfare Chief Asserts”; Press-Scimitar, March 25, 1951, “Placing Children Described as Illegal”; Press Scimitar, March 26, 1951, “Seeking Custody of Three Children”; Nashville Ten nessean, April 3, 1951, “Couple Opens Fight to Regain Three Children”; Nashville Tennessean, April 4, 1951, “Court Delays Adoption Fight”; Associated Press, March 19, 1952 “Tann Victim Seeks Children’s Return.”
120: “The opportunity to . . . with Memphis couples”: Nashville Tennessean, October 26, 1950, “Georgia Tann Campaigned Against Baby Rackets.”
120: “By the late 1940s . . . out of state”: Nashville Tennessean, September 22, 1950, “Sutton Asks Investigation of Baby Racketeering By House Committee.”
121: “Pharmacist J. B. Martin . . . ejected from the ballpark”: Allen, pp. 212-213.
121: “Attorney Ben W. Kohn . . . a Crump opponent”: Oral History, interview with Mrs. Nell Aspero conducted by Charles W. Crawford, March 25, 1988, p. 24.
121: “Another attorney was . . . citizens: ‘Boss’”: Van Devander, p. 173.
122: “her staff of six women”: January 20, 1937, letter from Georgia Tann to C. C. Carstens.
122–124: “One, an employee of . . . Saginaw, Michigan, couple’”: Information regarding Grace Gribble was derived from Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus, State ex rel. Gribble v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society et al., No. 41796—R45 (Prob. Ct., Shelby Co., TN, April 9, 1940). Also, Draft of brief in TN Sup. Ct., in State ex rel. Gribble v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society, undated, c. 1941. Also, Press-Scimitar, April 29, 1940, “Claims Society Misled Her and Took Children”; interviews with three of Grace’s children, Doris Ann Schaefer, David Gribble, and Charles Gribble.
124: “Regarding the children’s . . . ‘interests of her children’”: Record, State ex rel. Gribble v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society, p. 159 (No. 41796—Prob. Ct., Shelby Co., 1940).
125: “In a documentary . . . family to Arkansas”: WSMV, Nashville, Tennessee, “Forgotten Families,” Series, October 1990.
10. Georgia’s Adults
127–128: “She must have . . . his little girl again”: Waggerman v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society, Bill, p. 1, No. 39939, Chancery Court, Shelby County, 1933; Waggerman v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society, Bill of Exceptions, No. 39939, Chancery Court, Shelby County, 1933; Waggerman v. Tennessee Children’s Home Society, Appeal To Petition to Re-Hear, No. 39939, Chancery Court, Shelby County.
128: “Eighteen-year-old Mary . . . ‘this day,’ Mary said”: Memorandum, State of Tennessee ex rel of Mary Aileen McIntosh, Petitioner, vs. Tennessee Children’s Home Society and Miss Georgia Tann, Defendants, No. 57412RD; The Commercial Appeal, “Hopes of Mother to Retain Child of 4 Rest With Judge,” 1947; The Commercial Appeal, August 30, 1947, “Unwed Mother Plans New Fight for Child”; The Commercial Appeal, July 10, 1991, “Birth Mom, Son Unite Years After Custody Suit,” interviews with Mary Reed, Sheila Brown, and Steve P
opper, 1992.
129: “Irene Green was one . . . ‘no one to love me now’”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1993, “Stolen Time”; interviews with Mary Margolis, Jim Lambert, Pat Spruill, and Betty Jo Mitchell, 1993-1994; interviews with Janice Lambert, 2006.
129: “When a twenty-seven-year-old . . . ‘nervous breakdown’”: Interview with Earline Phillips, 1992.
130–131: “She was a skillful . . . ‘whole world to us’”: The Commercial Appeal, September 18, 1950, “Hoodwinked Father Declares He’ll Sue To Regain Children.”
131: “But he’d lost . . . their adoptive parents”: Nashville Tennessean, August 4, 1952, “Tennessee Mother Weeps As Court Takes 3 Children.”
132: “The stock market . . . poor Memphians”: Biles, p. 51.
132: “Employers cut workers’ . . . jobs to men”: Biles, p. 53.
132: “The city’s financial . . . the Mississippi Delta”: Biles, pp. 53-54.
132: “these institutions . . . Georgia’s spotters”: The Commercial Appeal, September 24, 1950, “Mothers Threatened, Taylor Says.”
132: “‘She knew how’ . . . told me sadly”: Interview with Alma Sipple, 1992.
133: “‘excessively sexual equipment’”: Schumacher, p. 780.
133: “‘sexual deviants’”: Duberman et al., p. 291.
133: “‘intermediate’”: Smith-Rosenberg, p. 264.
133: “‘third’ sex”: Duberman et al., p. 289.
133–134: “He knocked on . . . and swiftly left”: Interview with Vallie Miller, 1992.
134: “‘Marriage Racket Laid’ . . . to the unborn child”: Nashville Tennessean, September 29, 1950, “Marriage Racket Laid to Miss Tann.”
135: “‘This child is 100 percent normal and healthy’”: Georgia Tann said this to an adoptive mother, upon presentation of a child: Interview with Linda Myers, 1992.
135: “In the centuries . . . raise their children”: Solinger, p. 285.
136: “Social workers more . . . children was adoption”: Solinger, p. 173; Kunzel, p. 128.
136: “Enacted before adoption . . . to raise them”: Solinger, p. 21.