Despite differences in ethnicity and race, age and gender, I think it’s safe to say that all immigrants arriving in New York at the turn of the century struggled to find a job. What struck me most was how willing early immigrants were to do crappy jobs such as scavenging the streets for rags and for how little they were willing to work. Although I know this is the focus of this weeks reading, I am compelled to turn my attention elsewhere.
In “The Saga of Johnny Morrow,” once again, we are confronted with the exploitation of children. However, unlike the Italian immigrant children who were exploited by the infamous padrone, Johnny and his siblings were exploited by their parents! After reading this I immediately wanted to edit my response to last weeks reading and delete the portion which somewhat condoned the drinking and “unsavory” behavior of some of the Five Points residents. The Morrows were abusive, negligent parents who shouldn’t have had one child under their care let alone six! (Seriously, maybe Margret Sanger should have set up shop in Five Points instead of Brownsville!)
The presence of five organizations for orphaned children in this five-page narrative (the New Boy’s Lodging house, the New Haven Orphan Asylum, the Five Points Mission, the Children’s Aid Society, and the House of Refuge on Randal’s Island) suggests that Johnny’s story was not at all uncommon. So, after finishing the readings, I decided to do a little research.
It turns out that Johnny’s story is part of a much larger one. He and his siblings Annie, Willie, Jane, Margret Ann, and Jonathan were among thousands of children who were helped by the foster care movement that erupted in the early 1950’s. As it says in the reading, both the Children’s Aid Society and the New Boys Lodging house were established by Charles Loring Brace. Also known as the father of modern foster care, Brace’s life ambition was to save unfortunate children and shape them into “moral adults” capable of making good decisions.
Though he is considered to be the father of modern foster care, he was not responsible for opening the first orphanages. After volunteering for the Five Points Mission, Brace decided that the pre-existing orphanages relying solely on charity weren’t good enough and decided to open his own institution- the Children’s Aid Society in 1953. The goal of his organization would be to give orphans the means and training to save themselves. Brace focused mainly on finding jobs, lodging houses, free schooling and dental clinics for young boys living on the streets of NYC.
Brace also was the creator of the “Orphan Trains,” which brought orphan children (like Willie and Annie) to live with families in the Midwest. Brace’s idea was this: “In every American community, especially a western one, there are many spare places at the table of life. There is no harassing struggle for existence.”
The Randall’s Island House of Refuge, opened in 1854, was mainly for juvenile delinquents, however many street-children like Willie were brought in by the police. It really wasn’t an orphanage at all. Apparently, the “House of Refuge” had a reputation for “neglect, cruelty, and ill-treatment” according to an article from the New York Times archives that was published on August 5, 1865. After reading about the prisoner who was brutally beaten to death, it is no wonder why Johnny pleaded and begged for his brother’s release. Here’s the link to the article if you want to check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/1865/08/05/news/the-house-of-refuge-at-randall-s-island.html
