THROWN ON THE COLD CHARITY OF THE WORLD Kansas Cares for Its Orphans, 1859-1919 BY Lyanne Candy Ruff Submitted to the graduate degree program in the Department of History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______________________________ Dr. Kim Warren, Chairperson ______________________________ Dr. Ted Wilson _____________________________ Dr. Jonathan Earle ______________________________ Dr. Jake Kipp ______________________________ Dr. Mary K. Zimmerman Date defended : 5/17/12 ©Copyright by Lyanne Candy Ruff 2012 All Rights Reserved ii The Dissertation Committee for Lyanne Candy Ruff Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: THROWN ON THE COLD CHARITY OF THE WORLD Kansas Cares for Its Orphans, 1859-1919 _________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Kim Warren Date Approved: 6/12/12 iii Abstract This dissertation examines the role special interest politics played in securing tax-supported funding of child welfare services by local and state governments. The study begins in the mid-1850s, when Irish immigrants began to influence New York City politics, insuring municipal funding for Catholic orphan asylums, while fighting Protestant reformers determined to ride destitute immigrant children of their foreign customs and Catholic religion. My research examined the second year of the Civil War, when Pennsylvania became the first state to assure the care and education of children because early Union losses cut recruitment levels, compelling state officials to make these guarantees to Union Army recruits, who may not return home. The study then pointed to a strong voting bloc and state house connections that Kansas Civil War veterans used in 1885 to insist that the orphaned children of their wartime colleagues and those fallen on hard times gain state support. These historically significant occurrences expose the chilling affects of politics on Irish immigration, the western emigration of New York’s Catholic children to Midwestern Protestant communities, legislation benefiting Union veterans, and Progressive Era reforms implemented for social control rather than alleviating poverty. This research proves that special interest groups controlled the lives of orphaned and dependent children, influencing their place in a new standardized American society of social control and suppressed behavior. The timeframe for this dissertation begins in 1859 when three suddenly orphaned children became the responsibility of a Kansas community, moves into the iv intervening decades of the last half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and concludes when the Spanish Influenza forced Kansas lawmakers in 1919 to implement strict regulations of religious orphanages and children’s homes. My research utilizes accumulative cause and effect data that build into my conclusions centered on outcomes-based analysis. This dissertation examines the motivation of social workers, government officials and reformers caring for orphaned and dependent children, challenging the perception that alleviating poverty was their sole motivation. The conclusions of this study find that the political mandates of special interest groups ruled decisions made at all levels of government, within the management of private charities and among leaders in small communities. Among those decisions stood the desire to control destitute children, and mold them eventually into acceptable American adults. This research looked closely into the care of destitute children in New York, Pennsylvania and Kansas, revealing similar child welfare systems that developed under the influence of special interest politics. v Acknowledgements The problem with thanking those who assisted me in the completion of my doctorate begins with the first individuals who come to mind. They lived over a hundred years ago. Standing on the shoulders of those once served the people of Kansas; I sat in the same chambers, roamed the same library stacks and walked the same halls of the Kansas State House. Researching the history of Kansas and its Legislature placed me in a unique position during the sixteen years I served in the Kansas House of Representatives. The best way to understand politics, its rewards, and the influence of those who wield its power is to experience the unique proximity of those in power. That experience offered me knowledge and appreciation of political leaders of the past, and of today. Live human beings played key roles. My first and most sincere appreciation goes to my husband. He endured endless trips to libraries and archives, sat hours in front of digital readers, and chauffeured me on several road trip. He listened patiently as I talked of the past. That should come as no surprise because I was raised with a love of history. Discovering a love of Kansas History took place in the newsroom of the oldest daily newspaper in Kansas. In the 1980s, I worked as a reporter for the Leavenworth Times, covering local government and working the news desk on Saturday nights. During those long evenings, I started reading the microfilm of each issue, starting March 27, 1857. Every week, I watched as my community and state grew. I sought out vi publications on Kansas History, leading me to my first hero in Kansas History, Professor Rita Napier. A copy of her dissertation on the town companies created to establish the river town (including Leavenworth) in Territorial Kansas opened that period’s troubling period. When I decided to return to college, Professor Napier was the first instructor I sought. She continues to serve as an example of excellence in teaching and research. Virgil Dean became another early-day champion of Kansas History. He taught one of my first Kansas History classes at Washburn, pointing to the early publications of the Kansas State Historical Society, where he serves as publications editor. By pointing to the Kansas Collection, he emphasized the importance of contemporary materials. From those primary source documents, I became acquainted with talented resource librarians, archival experts, and custodians of precious records. Among those I most admire are personnel at the Kansas State Library. Because they most often conduct research on current issues, they often looked surprised to see a legislator seek the state’s earliest publications, state statutes and law books. Research experts with the Kansas State Historical Society offered insightful suggestions, pointed to overlooked sources and produced every request I submitted. From the archives of the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, I first discovered “those thrown on the cold charity of the world.” My appreciation to Sister Mary Sheehan is immense because she introduced me to St. Vincent Orphan Home and Mother Xavier Ross, the order’s founder. She guided my search of early correspondence, publications and individuals. The Diocese Archives of the Catholic vii Church of Kansas City, Kansas, provided valuable assistance in my search of the Church in Kansas. My research outside Kansas produced valuable assistance starting with Victor Agure archivist for the New York Children’s Aid Society. He shared documents that first mentioned Kansas. Although painfully recalled, he pointed to three accordion folders holding hundreds of unanswered letters from orphan train riders. Another heartfelt discovery came in the archives of the New York Foundling Home, where large ledgers held the original letters and notes women attached to the infants they had abandoned. Although I viewed these documents in their original New York locations, the archives for the New York Children’s Aid Society and New York Foundling Home now reside in the New York Historical Society. As a non-traditional student, I attended the University of Kansas while busy elsewhere. I often envied students who had time to chat with professors and drink coffee in the Student Union. Although enjoying my classes, I often multi-tasked by deciding where to shop for dinner, the laundry awaiting me at home. I also became friends with fellow non-traditional students we called the B Club. Each one has stood by me as I made my way toward completion of my doctorate. When I read of acknowledgements in other dissertations, I find my list somewhat missing. I failed to attend important conferences or accumulate the friendships of scholarly individuals. I have not traveled the halls of academia and identifying those in the hall of political power should probably go unnamed. viii Combining my political experience with my academic research occurred because of many good people, alive and dead. ix Table of Contents Abstract iii, iv Acknowledgements v, vi, vii,viii Table of Contents ix, x, Chapter One: Introduction 1 Igniting a Crisis in Child Welfare 1 Exploring Primary Source Documents 9 Adding to Existing Scholarship 15 Chapter Two: Famine Irish 39 Overwhelmed: Private Child Welfare System Shatters Forever 39 Poorhouses, Religious Orphanages, Private Charities Meet Needs 41 Orphan Homes Before Famine Irish Arrive 47 Irish Diaspora Floods America 50 Nativists, Protestants Denounce, Demand 53 Ill-kept, Ill-fed, Irish Immigrant Children Suffer 58 Sending Children West, Protestant Solutions 60 Shame Takes Its Toll on Immigrant Women 64 Sleeping Quietly into Death: Infants at the New York Foundling Asylum 70 Chapter Three: Orphans in Kansas 77 Thrown on the Cold Charity of the World: First Orphans to Soldiers Orphans 77 ‘Darkest page in Kansas History,’ County