Su 1

Lily Su

Mrs.Osgood

D Block

May 3, 2024

Georgia Tann: A Story of One Woman’s Brutal Pursuit for Profit

In the crevasess of unexposed and tragic American history remains the silent travesty of

Georgia Tann’s crimes and the dark and unspeakable trauma which was inflicted upon

generations of victims because of her. Tann’s child trafficking crimes destroyed the lives of

children and their families; but beyond the news headlines, time revealed a generational impact

where the scars of emotional and physical trauma were embedded in families’ blood. As

descendants continue to grapple with Tann’s haunting echoes, they are reminded of the

far-spanning consequences of one woman's brutal pursuit of profit. In the mid 1900’s, adoption

skyrocketed in popularity after the Yellow Fever plague, killing many and decreasing birth rates

by 40% (Wilensky). Additionally, the passing of The Social Security Act of 1935 advocated for

independent children and promoted foster care, often leading to adoption (“Brief History of

Adoption”). Further, Hollywood’s glamor influenced adopting families’ bias toward traits

projected for worldly success, creating high demand for children with blonde hair and blue eyes;

taking after the Hollywood stereotype, modeled after Shirley Temple and Marilyn Monroe

(Jones). Because these stereotypes were based on beauty, females were often stereotyped and

restricted to what kind of jobs they could hold and roles they could play in American society,

infuriating women who held educational passions such as Georgia Tann(Poppy); This furiated

her and she took her anger out on children, monopolizing adoption. Georgia Tann left a

life-altering imprint on families she worked with because of the emotional and physical trauma
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she imposed on the children, creating a loss of identity and disconnect in families spanning

multiple generations as descendants continue to confront the legacy of Tann’s actions.

Georgia Tann (1891-1950) did not have a rags to riches story, she was not one of those

few who did what they had to do to get by in life; Georgia Tann was born into a middle-upper

class family with a district court Judge as a father. Some of his responsibilities included dealing

with homeless children who the state was responsible for, exposing Tann to child welfare law at

a very young age. Taking after her father, Tann desired to have a career in law, but due to societal

stereotypes, her father deemed this profession too masculine for his daughter and feared the

societal backlash his reputation would face (Poppy). However, she had already had extensive

knowledge about child welfare, including loopholes in the system, and she took advantage of

prior knowledge. She slowly infiltrated the adoptive system, motivated to illegally steal children

in unethical ways in order to maximize profit. Tann was in cahoots with Governors, Judges and

nurses who would do favors for Tann in exchange for payment.

Georgia Tann’s victims are emotionally traumatized for life because of her physical and

sexual abuse. Lisa Wingate’s book “Before We Were Yours” (2017) is based on real life stories

which she compiled into one family’s story. She interviewed many survivors who lived in Tann’s

Tennessee Children's Home (TCH) in the early 1900s, and integrated their stories into her novel.

Wingate highlights the sexual abuse which ravaged throughout TCH, ultimately leaving many

children with prolonged sexual trauma. Wingate alludes to the rape and sexual assault of many

children during their stay at TCH, describing the gruesome details of small children with “thin,

strong arms fighting, legs thrashing around. I see a big hand closing over a screaming mouth, the

dirty oily finger squeezing so hard they leave bruises” (Wingate 158). Despite the immense

internal struggle many children faced, confused about their experiences, they hid their assault
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due to the fear of being preyed on as a weak and small child, leading to suppressing affliction

(Wingate). The stories are so dark, that many kept quiet for years, like twin victims who shared

their story on Oprah Winfrey’s show at age seventy, stating that “the sexual abuse eventually

came up at the home. We haven’t talked about it until about three months ago” (Winfrey). These

twins were so ashamed of what they believed was their fault, they kept silent about their sexual

assault and coercion for decades. The twins described some experiences in TCH including being

forced to “be put in a big bed and have other people just look at us and make us hug and kiss

each other” (Winfrey). As adolescents they couldn’t comprehend the meaning of this, but as

they grew up it became apparent to them that they were forced into shameful acts and it often

made their relationship a bit uncomfortable at times, creating a barrier which they had to

overcome in order to survive TCH and the rest of their childhood as orphans. Ultimately, Georgia

Tann left children of her home sexually, emotionally and physically scarred for life, well beyond

their experiences at TCH.

Georgia Tann further victimized children by neglecting their health, leaving many

non-fatal diseases to turn deathly and leave children weakened for life. The 1900’s prompted

many illnesses which were spreading through cities, including: diarrhea epidemics, pneumonia,

tuberculosis, measles, mumps and whooping cough. The prominence of these diseases in the

lower class was apparent; consequently, many of the children who Tann kidnapped were already

ill or on the path to becoming ill ( “Reportable diseases by year”). Wingate’s novel highlights

that when Tann’s children were ill she could care less - even when other authorities in TCH

suggested “The doctor should be summoned, yes?”, she responded, “No, of course not. Why in

heaven's name would I have the doctor over a bit of the runs” (Wingate 123). Despite many ill

children due to the poor living conditions, Georgia Tann refused any professional care due to
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lack of care and frugality. The newspapers eventually exposed Tann and her tactics to sell

children, including an expose stating “Miss Georgia Tann, head of home here, ignored [the

doctor’s] orders aimed at ending the epidemic that the high death rate would have been much

lower had his orders been followed” (Harrington). Although Tann attempted to cover up all the

sick children she had, the numbers did not add up and the infantry death toll became one of the

key suspicions which led to Tann’s downfall. For those who did not fall fatal to these diseases,

they were forever tortured with the memories of being victims to extreme and prolonged lethargy

and misery. Many siblings lost the only family they would remember to these diseases,

deteriorating their familial identity. Alternatively, it is remarked that “if a child was sickly, or had

a birth defect, or a health problem, or it was just too fussy, or not cute enough — not marketable,

in other words. She had people to send the child away” (Wingate). It is clear that Tann was

worried about the public appearance of TCH, not the well being of the children; if the children

appeared sick, she would hope they died, otherwise opting to get rid of the weak by sending

them away to abusive families who would essentially enslave the children to work on their

farms. Overall, victims of Tann had low chances of survival because of disease and no support,

leaving individuals with immense loss of the only loved ones they knew and health defects.

Georgia Tann further traumatized children by repeatedly stripping them of their personal

identities. Their legal identities and ages were frequently changed, forcing them to adopt new

personas - forgetting about their former selves. The pair of twin victims on Oprah Winfrey’s

show stated “We’ve got so many names, we don't know what to call each other half the time”

(Winfrey). These twin brothers had been reassigned identities multiple times; despite being

brothers, even at age seventy, they effectively remain nameless faces even to each other. Like

many others, they were simply survivors, left to wonder: who were they, who were they
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supposed to be and who are they now. As one of the characters in Wingate’s book did, said

“Everything I wanted my life to be, it won’t be now. The path that brought me here is flooded

over. There’s no going back” (Wingate 310). As the journey of life evolved for many of these

children, they further questioned what could’ve been: “Would I trade the son I bore for a

different son, for more children, for a daughter to comfort me in my old age? Would I give up the

husbands I loved and buried, the music, the symphonies, the lights of Hollywood, the

grandchildren and the great grandchildren who live far distant but have my eyes?” (Windgate

332). Georgia Tann’s victims experienced eternal internal conflict - making the best of who they

were last assigned to be, versus attempting to reform their original identity, permanently

straining their relationships with themselves.

Tann’s reckless divide not only uprooted survivors of their internal foundations, but such

trauma also fell to their future generations, who were left to investigate the truth of their

ancestors’ burdens to reconcile their own identities as a product of their family histories. Many

survivors hid their past trauma from their families, trying to move on with their lives; but as

descendants discovered these tragedies, they were faced with identity crises of their own, many

question “Do we carry the guilt from the sins of past generations? If so, can we bear the weight

of that burden?” (Windgate 199). Some may simply have been angry and confused - “Why did

they so recklessly divide our lives up” (“Tennessee Children’s Home ”), while others were

undoubtedly left to re-examine their family identities, grieve their tremendous loss of innocence,

ore ven struggle with existential crises: the reality of pain caused by evil people in a broken

world, vulnerability and a false sense of security in America, and questioning the power of

justice. The depth of trauma from Tann’s heinous crimes runs deep in the blood of survivors,

carrying through generations as they discover their families’ unspeakable stories.

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Georgia Tann's widespread propaganda also forced American society to question the truth

of what they were presented in the media. Propaganda intended to convince citizens to follow her

lead: a 1940’s newspaper article there is an ad from Georgia Tann, with a baby laughing and

looking at the camera, and the caption “Nancy — Just Eleven Months Old— Needs Home— Can

You Say ‘No’?” (Harrington). Another posted ad pictured three smiling toddlers on a bench with

the caption “They’d Like to Be Your Christmas Gift” (Harrington). Tann manipulated families in

order to maximize profit; Those who responded to these ads and adopted a child from her felt

betrayed after Tann was exposed. Completely the opposite of the photo depictions, the hidden

truth was that the adopted children were nothing more than miserable. As a result, “Georgia

Tann's infamous commercialization of unregulated adoption there was a need for new legislation

which protects orphans. This resulted in Optional Protocol to the convention on the Rights of the

Child on the Sale of Children. This new protocol protects against child exploitation and promotes

positive unions between children and loving parents” (Haunstein). Legal reform was created to

respond to this false media representation, in connection with tighter regulations for children’s

welfare; both efforts hoped to reestablish the public’s trust in the legal system and the public

media after it had been betrayed

Georgia Tann's scandalous scheme further betrayed the public's trust by involving noy

only the legal system at large, but individuals at the highest level of government, as well as

trusted medical leaders. Tann did not operate alone,she had many right hand men who she paid

off or gave favors to in order to fly under the radar. “Boss E.H Crump”, now known as one of the

most corrupt governors at the time, was one of her main supporters. “He developed a cozy

patronage relationship with Tann — she paid him off and brought the fame of her society to

Memphis. He in turn protected her from prying investigations” (Poppy). He promoted her in
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public speeches and the newspaper, decorating her for her charity. He also assisted her in illegal

human trafficking across state lines to make even more money. The most active of the “high

profile co-conspirators was Judge Camille Kelley, who presided over the juvenile court in Shelby

County, Tennessee, for 30 years” (Celeste). Kelly destroyed illegally filed court documents, and

even requested small tweaks in laws to allow Tann to continue her operations, in return for

financial payments. Similarly, Tann “would bribe nurses and doctors in birthing wards to snatch

up a few infants for her. Said nurses and doctors would then tell the parents that their child was

stillborn” (Kuroski). Parents were presented false papers suggested they were medical expense

documents, but they were actually signing their parental rights away. Those who took the

Hippocratic oath which states “do no harm”, stole children and participated in illegal human

trafficking. The public's trust and faith in America was destroyed by these seemingly

unforgivable crimes, committed by those who were expected to prioritize the citizen’s best

interests above all else. Overall trust from the American public was diminished with the

government for some time, because they questioned if the government had their best interests

which deteriorated the relationship between the people and government.

Georgia Tann forever altered the lives of the families she worked with - the victims’

catastrophic emotional and physical trauma creating individual and familial crises, family

fractures, and generational disconnect on many levels. The institutional accomplices in the form

of politicians, legal systems, and medical practitioners betrayed the very fabric of everything

America stands for, leading to widespread and cultural damages far beyond the families directly

impacted by her injustices. Even today, despite legal reform, many still walk on eggshells when

considering adoption, or discussing the ethics of adoption. This debate will no doubt continue to

evolve, but Georgia Tann’s influence in this conversation is forever marked.

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Annotated Works Cited

“Brief History of Adoption in the United States: Adoption Network.” Adoption Network ,

Adoption network, 22 Sept. 2022,

adoptionnetwork.com/history-of-adoption/#:~:text=The%20stigma%20against%20illegiti

mate%20children,have%20more%20opportunities%20to%20succeed. This source was

extremely helpful in understanding the context in which adoption became so popular in

this timeperiod. This helped me understand the ramifications surrounding Tann’s success.

I know this is a reliable source because it is America’s central home page for adoption.

Beyette, Beverly. “Together Again : After 44 Tortured Years, a Mother Finds Her Stolen Child

via ‘Unsolved Mysteries.’” Latimes.Com, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 1990,

www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-20-vw-882-story.html. This is a real life

story about how a mother found her child who was abducted, and how it changed her life.

This is a reliable source because it is a testimony from a survivor. This source helped me

gauge the scale on which Georgia Tann’s actions affected people.

Celeste, Erika. “For 20 Years, a Tennessee Baby Thief Kidnapped More than 5,000 Children

from the Streets, Hospitals, and Shanty Towns of Memphis. Now, 70 Years Later,

Survivors of Her ‘house of Horrors’ Are Confronting the Past.” Business Insider,

Business Insider, 4 Dec. 2019,

www.businessinsider.com/georgia-tann-tennessee-children-home-society-survivors-speak

-out-2019-12. This source was helping in understanding the web of connections which

Tann created and how they helped her execute her crimes without backlash. I became

familiar with the main powers which allowed her to do this which was very Helpful. This
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is a reliable source because it is published on a well known news website and written by

an Emmy award winner.

Harrington, Robyn Kagan. “Georgia Tann: The Mastermind of a Black Market Baby Ring That

Lasted for Three Decades.” Medium, Exploring History, 25 July 2020,

medium.com/exploring-history/georgia-tann-the-mastermind-of-a-black-market-baby-rin

g-that-lasted-for-three-decades-f76c8175e4f1. This article gave me many primary source

documents of newspapers at the time discussing the controversy of Georgia Tann’s

methods, and the eventual lead up to the lawsuit against her. Additionally it gave me

Tann's propaganda examples of how she advertised children in order to maximize profits.

This source is reliable because it has primary sources and is from a well known site.

Additionally it exemplifies the struggles of victims lives which they were objectified into

material goods.

Hauenstein, Holland L. "Unwitting and Unwelcome in Their Own Homes: Remedying the

Coverage Gap in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000." Iowa Law Review, vol. 104, no. 4,

May 2019, pp. 2123+. Gale OneFile: Criminal Justice,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A594831646/PPCJ?u=mlin_n_newhigh&sid=bookmark-PPCJ&x

id=6bf91859. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024. This is a school database which they have a paid

subscription to and the school encourages us to use so it is reliable. This article gave me a

start to the aftermath of Georgia Tann and how it affected governments' role in adoption.

Jones, Geoffery. “Wayback Machine.” Economic History Review, Harvard Business School,

2008,web.archive.org/web/20150810135011/http:/www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20F

iles/Blond%20and%20Blue-eyed_0e0cba58-f39a-400b-b487-826befe097d7.pdf. This

source helped me understand the culture for blue eyes and blonde hair, why the demand
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was so high for these features and how it affected society. This is a reliable source

because it is a Harvard Business school written paper which is a highly respected school.

Kuroski, John. “Meet the Woman Who Kidnapped 5,000 Babies and Sold Them All.” All That’s

Interesting, All That’s Interesting, 9 Nov. 2023, allthatsinteresting.com/georgia-tann. This

source was helping in understanding the connections which Tann made relationships with

and how they helped her execute her crimes without backlash. I became familiar with

How Judge Kelly helped Tann bypass logistics in order to get by without detection. This

source is reliable because it was written by an honorable editorial director with many

honorable works.

Poppy, Nick. “This Woman Stole Children from the Poor to Give to the Rich.”

Nypost, New York Post, 19 June 2017,

nypost.com/2017/06/17/this-woman-stole-children-from-the-poor-to-give-to-th

e-rich/. This is a well honored newspaper with many accolades. This was a

follow up which was published just days after the book “Before We Were

Yours” was published. It was one of the first deep dive articles which exposed

Georgia Tann’s crimes to the public which were mainly untold stories prior.

“Reportable Diseases by Year 1930 - 2017, September 5, 2018.” Iowa Publications

Online, Iowa Government, 5 Sept. 2018, publications.iowa.gov/31620/.

“Tennessee Children’s Home Scandal News Report 1-12-92.” Edited by Jeff Sabu,

YouTube, `YouTube, 27 June 2017,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaiRYfhvj0k. This source is a primary source which

interviews victims of Georgia Tann’s crimes. It deep dives into how each child came to
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find their origins of their adoption and if their attempts to reunite with their biological

parents. However, it shows how many parents had

died and never got the chance to meet their children which is a real life internal conflict

for the victims. This source gave me insight into the lives of victims.

Wilensky, Hannah Noll. “Black-Market Adoptions in Tennessee: A Call for Reparations.”

Hastings Women Law Journal, UC Law, July 2019,

repository.uclawsf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1428&context=hwlj. This source was

extremely helpful in understanding the context in which adoption became so popular in

this time period, following the pandemic of yellow fever. This helped me understand the

conditions surrounding Tann’s success. I know this is a reliable source because it is

written by a UCLA law professor which is a respectable school.

Winfrey, Oprah. “Twins Brothers Stolen and Sold into the Black Market Share Their Horrific

Story.” Oprah.Com, Oprah.com,

www.oprah.com/own-oprahshow/twins-brothers-stolen-and-sold-into-the-black-market.

Accessed 14 Mar. 2024. Oprah Winfrey is a very well known figure who often spreads

awareness about devastating stories. This primary source is an interview from The Oprah

Winfrey show, where they share the horrors of The Tennessee Children's Home. This was

an extremely helpful source because it helped me gain insight to the real devastating and

disturbing tactics of Georgia Tann, and how they affected the survivors, including the

psychological and emotional detriments.

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Wingate, Lisa. Before We Were Yours. Penguin Random House USA, 2017.

This is a very reliable source, a well known book which re-started the scandal of Georgia

Tann. This book was created based off of real life stories which were compiled into one

story in order to attempt to encapture the cruelties of Georgia Tann. This book was on the

bestseller list for over two years and a New York Times best seller. This helped me gain

insights of the whole lives of people who this affected.