Top of page

Film, Video Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth Century New York City

About this Item

Title

  • Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth Century New York City

Summary

  • In the 19th century, foundlings -- children abandoned by their desperately poor, typically unmarried mothers, usually shortly after birth -- were commonplace in European society. There were asylums in every major city to house abandoned babies, and writers made them the heroes of their fiction, most notably Charles Dickens in "Oliver Twist." In American cities before the Civil War the situation was different, with foundlings relegated to the poorhouse instead of institutions designed specifically for their care. By the eve of the Civil War, New York City in particular had an epidemic of foundlings on its hands due to the rapid and often interlinked phenomena of urban development, population growth, immigration and mass poverty. Only then did the city's leaders begin to worry about the welfare and future of its abandoned children. In her book, Julie Miller offers a fascinating, frustrating and often heartbreaking history of a once devastating, now forgotten social problem that wracked America's biggest metropolis, New York City.

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • Library of Congress. Center for the Book, sponsoring body

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 2009-12-09.

Headings

  • -  Biography, History
  • -  Cities, Towns

Notes

  • -  Classification: History: America.
  • -  Julie Miller.
  • -  Recorded on 2009-12-09.
  • -  Kids, Families.
  • -  Researchers.
  • -  Teachers.

Medium

  • 1 online resource

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021688371

Online Format

  • video
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

While the Library of Congress created most of the videos in this collection, they include copyrighted materials that the Library has permission from rightsholders to present.  Rights assessment is your responsibility.  The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may also be content that is protected under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.  Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Whenever possible, we provide information that we have about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. However, the information we have may not be accurate or complete.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body Library Of Congress. Center For The Book. Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth Century New York City. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -12-09, 2009. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688371/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress & Library Of Congress. Center For The Book, S. B. (2009) Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth Century New York City. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -12-09. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688371/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body Library Of Congress. Center For The Book. Abandoned: Foundlings in Nineteenth Century New York City. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -12-09, 2009. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021688371/>.