A review by aoosterwyk
Alone in the World: Orphans and Orphanages in America by Catherine Reef

3.0

This book fills the historical gap between Oliver Twist and today's Department of Social Services. What to do with children whose parents die or can't support them? The orphan trains are also mentioned as well as how such transfers of human life were documented (or not). The consequences for families during the Civil War due to loss of income because of soldier's deaths or disabilities is also highlighted as well as the disparity between services available to children of different races.