РефератыИностранный языкBuButterbox Babies Essay Research Paper 2

Butterbox Babies Essay Research Paper 2

Butterbox Babies Essay, Research Paper


 Lovely Babies For Adoption is what the advertisement for the Ideal Maternity


Home and Sanitarium versed to many couples unable to bear children beginning in the


late 1920’s. Although the ad held true as to the children, the operation of this business


was far from lovely. Originally designed as a sanitarium for the sick, the hospital soon


became a birthing facility. Operating without any supervision, the facility was a place of


joy for couples adopting an infant, but a place of shame and despair for unwed mothers.


Lila Gladys Coolen met and married William Peach Young in 1925. William was


an unordained seventh-day Adventist minister and Lila, also of the same faith, was a


teacher in Fox Point, Nova Scotia. After being married, the couple left Nova Scotia to


return to school in Chicago. William attended the National College of Chiropractic,


while Lila pursued a degree at the National School of Obstetrics and Midwifery. In


February of 1928, the Youngs opened The Life and Health Sanitarium out of their four


bedroom cottage. Lila began delivering babies and within a year, the facility had been


renamed The Ideal Maternity Home and Sanitarium and it s sole purpose became a


birthing facility and adoption center for unwed mothers.


During this time, Canadian and US laws were similar in banning the use of birth


control or the performance of abortions. This left many women banished and shamed


from their homes and communities because of illegitiment pregnancies. With the


creation of this facility, many unwed mothers saw an opportunity to keep their secret


from society. A newspaper advertisement placed by the Youngs, was carefully written


and geared to lure women in. It read:


Dame gossip has sent many young lives to perdition after ruining them socially,


that might have been BRIGHT STARS in society and a POWER in the world of


usefulness HAD THEY BEEN SHIELDED from the gossip when they made a


mistake (Cahill 1992)


Desperate to succeed in a closed minded society, unwed mothers were reeled in by what


appeared to be sensitivity to their mishap. Women had no idea that this shame would


control their lives and keep them quiet from revealing horrific events which took place


during their stay.


Unwed mothers not only paid for their secret in shame and grief, but also in


tremendous fees. The cost to mothers averaged three to five hundred dollars for room


and board, delivery, and adoption of their baby. Contracts had to be signed upon


>admittance giving William Young the power of attorney and legal authority over the


infant and it s adoption. With their business well on it s way, a whole new, wealthy


adoption market opened. The Youngs were becoming known as the Baby Barons of


East Chester . Their four bedroom cottage was added on to and renovated into a home


with fifty-four rooms. About seventy babies resided in the nursery, lined up in bassinets


for picking, similar to produce at the market.


In the US many couples were restricted from adopting because of their age and


state laws and because of adoption agencies rules prohibiting children to be placed with


families of a different religious background. This drew many couples from the New York


and New Jersey area, especially Jews. Although it is said you can not put a value on


human life, infants at the facility went for a pretty penny, averaging five to ten thousand


dollars. This brought a huge profit for the Youngs, and a booming business. They were


completely naive thinking their acts would never catch up with them.


Out of the 1,400 to 1,600 babies born at the home, only about 1,000 were


actually adopted out. Any infants who were sick, deformed, or disabled, or of a mixed


race were labeled unmarketable . These infants were fed only molasses and water,


which caused them to survive a mere two weeks, if that. The unmarketable babies


became the Butterbox Babies , because their lifeless bodies were placed in small


wooden grocery boxes from the local grocer. They were then buried in open graves, put


out in the sea, or sometimes burned in the home s furnace. In some cases, married


couples who came to the facility solely for birthing their child were told the infant had


died. The Youngs horrific crimes went without notice for years because of lacking


licensing laws. In 1940, new licensing laws were created upon the amendment of the


Maternity Boarding House Act.


Health officials finally intervened, and began to investigate violations of the new


adoption laws. A local publishing company displayed the truth behind the facility s


doors. Pediatricians inspections testified to striking overcrowding , fly-filled


nurseries , and malnourished children . Witnesses who had birthed in the home also


came forward to admit to their babies being neglected and murdered. Women also


admitted to lying on adoption papers and even posing as nurses for health inspectors


visits. On November 17, 1945, the Ideal Maternity Home was ordered closed, and the


Butterbox Babies tragedy came to an end.

Сохранить в соц. сетях:
Обсуждение:
comments powered by Disqus

Название реферата: Butterbox Babies Essay Research Paper 2

Слов:908
Символов:5929
Размер:11.58 Кб.