[trailhkr1]

One of the comments in the link pointed out how literate these women were for the day.

[svcw]

These notes where beautiful but very blurry. ,-(

[QBFimi]

No problem these days - we just kill ‘em off - by the millions. May G0d help us...

[oh8eleven]

October 1869 ... East 12th Street
In 1869, my gg-grandparents lived half a mile away on East 2nd Street w/ their six kids.
While doing my family research I was stunned at the amount of poverty (real poverty, not today's pseudo-poverty), disease, infant mortality, filth, crime, etc., that overwhelmed city dwellers.
How my ancestors survived and I ended up eventually being born is truly a miracle.

[Lorianne]

The root cause of this and today’s abortion rate (which is even more tragic) is that these women were left alone to fend for themselves and baby and the father skipped out.

The problems haven’t changed, only the methods of dealing with it. Always was tragic.

[Lorianne]

Back in those days illiterates would often pay someone to write a note for them. Some of these women may have skipped several meals to pay for the note to attach to their babies. It’s all they could give their babies.

[fella]

One of the comments in the link pointed out how literate these women were for the day.

And just look at the penmanship of the notes. What would these type of notes look like today?

[MinuteGal]

I was elected a Township Supervisor in my state of Illinois....and part of my responsibilities was providing aid for the needy poor and the struggling elderly in my township district consisting of 5 middle-income suburban cities and villages.

Over the years, I saw heartbreaking situations hidden in many houses along the tree-lined neighborhood streets.

Folks often asked me a question...."Who are those who most desperately need assistance to survive?"

The questioners always guessed it was the aged and infirm. However, it was not this group.

The answer was and still is mothers with 1 or more children whose young husbands had either skipped or had skipped with no money to pay support even if they hadn't skipped.

So, babies are still being abandoned by fathers today, the difference being that the mothers are getting help....and the babies are not being dumped on the doorsteps of foundling homes except in some rare instances.

The Bible says "the poor you will always have with you"....and it's so very true. The folks in my district were extremely charitable and our general assistance tax fund was considerably enhanced by private donations and generous contributions of food and paper goods to our emergency Pantry.

Leni

[Gay State Conservative]

For those interested...I was so moved by this piece that I felt compelled to contact the New York Historical Society in NYC and just got off the phone with a very helpful woman there.she told me to google “New York Historical Society” and “flickr” to see other things (pictures,letters,etc) from their collection.Just search “New York Foundling Hospital” when you reach the flickr page.Next time I hit NYC I’m certainly gonna make time to check out their exhibit which,the woman said,is much more extensive than what’s on the web.