You are correct that the services of Religious Orders in Orphanages has changed dramatically. There are still some, and the 2003 Directory shows a growth in this area. What it does not mention is the staffing has changed dramatically. Most of them are now run by secular staff. The Religious presence is mostly as a board member. The ranks of Nun’s diminishing vocations crisis is a large part of it I think. How very sad that is. What a gift they were to so many orphans. What a shame this is being lost.
The Orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in New York has changed dramatically over the past century, but it is still a presence I believe. I don’t know how it is staffed nowadays. It was founded in 1869, by a few devoted Sisters of Charity, in Manhattan to care for babies abandoned in the devastating wake of the Civil War. On the first night, with little advertisement an infant was left on their doorstep. By January 1, 1870, 123 babies had been delivered into the Sisters’ care by families unable to provide for them. As time went on larger quarters were built and the Nun’s provided a wonderful beginning for children who otherwise would have died from abandonment. They had a special door built which had a basket on a small platform. This basket and platform turned so that a mother could place her child into it and then turn the wheel to move the basket inside the door, out of the weather and into the arms of the Nun’s who cared for them. My mother was two weeks old when her mother placed her into that basket with a note. My birth grandmother was homeless, unwed and starving. She gave my mother the gift of life twice in two short weeks. How painful it must have been for her. How very grateful I am that she had the courage and love to do so.
The first recorded placement of a child with a view to adoption was in May 1873. As the 20th century approached the creation of the “Orphan Train,” enabled the Foundling Hospital to place children in foster homes in the Mid-west.My mother at the age of 22 months was one of those “Orphan Train” riders. From the dirty streets of Manhattan, to the warmth of the Nuns who took her in, she was placed on a Train and sent across the country into my grandparents loving arms.It may not have been a perfect system, and not all the stories were wonderful for the Orphan Train children, but my mothers home was wonderful and full of love. That precious gift of life has continued to grow through many generations. God bless the many woman and destitute families who said yes to life even in such dire circumstances. May God Bless the Nun’s who stood in their stead and cared for this gift and allowed it to thrive.
