Orphanages Reconsidered

Nurith Zmora is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Delaware.

• Tables Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Organization of the Orphanages 2. A Social Profile of the Children 3. Physical Conditions 4. The Children's Education 5. Social Life in the Orphanages 6. Life after the Orphanage 7. Discarding the Orphanages Notes Index

"In this important, revisionist study, Zmora uses rare manuscript institutional sources, published autobiographies, children's letters, and interviews to...persuasively argue that [20th century Baltimore orphanages] generally provided a physical, educational, vocational, and medical environment that was superior to that which the children would have experienced in their own families."-Choice "Zmora paints a rich picture of Progressive era orphan policies and orphan life. Zmora successfully shows how vague Progressive pollicies worked on a local level among those whom the policies were meant to help...Zmora also builds a solid historiographical foundation on which others might stand."-Southern Historian"Orphanages Reconsidered provides an exceptionally fine understanding of how several children's institutions actually functioned, and it treats those institutions with sensitivity and empathy.... The book is richly documented and benefits from a shrewd, judicious, and creative use of primary sources."-Leroy Ashby, Department of History, Washington State University