In our final episode on Georgia Tann, we tell the story of the lives impacted by Georgia’s actions even years later and how some have come together to heal and rebuild from the ashes Georgia left in her enormous wake. 

SOURCES

For 20 years, a Tennessee baby thief kidnapped more than 5000 children from the streets, hospitals, and shanty towns of Memphis. Now, 70 years later, survivors of her 'house of horrors' are confronting the past.

Together Again : After 44 Tortured Years, a Mother Finds Her Stolen Child Via 'Unsolved Mysteries' - Los Angeles Times 

Before We Were Yours: A Novel: Wingate, Lisa - Books 

The Children of Georgia Tann | Unsolved Mysteries Wiki 

Georgia Tann, even with her limp, her small frame and grandmotherly appearance, had a ridiculous amount of energy. And most of it was concentrated on her work - her absolute tyrannical goal to become the foremost leader in adoption work. 

She could sell babies when other people couldn’t give them away. She worked long hours in her office, visited local businessmen to ask for donations to her cause and gave speeches about the great things about adoption. She would tell them… this not only helps the children, but it also helps taxpayers who won’t have to pay for the upkeep of orphanages. This was one of her refrains and in the 1930s she told everyone that she’d save the people of Memphis $218,000 by arranging over 2,000 adoptions. 

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SOURCES

Georgia Tann: The Mastermind of a Black Market Baby Ring That Lasted for Three Decades | by Robyn Kagan Harrington | Exploring History | Medium

https://ideapod.com/georgia-tann-the-baby-thief-kidnapped-5000-babies-and-sold-them-all

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief . Hachette Books.  

This is the hardest episode. In fact, you honestly may want to skip this episode. I don’t really want to tell this story, but I’m a firm believer that stories are powerful and even if they’re hard and ugly and horrific, they should have light poured over them so that perhaps it will stop similar abuses from happening again. And these children deserve the truth of what they suffered to be known. They just do.

It is said that many of the children who died in Georgia’s care didn’t even have a death certificate or a burial. But how did so many die?

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SOURCES

"She terrified people" | Arts & Culture | nashvillescene.com

“Good Housekeeping published . . . been fatal abuse”: “The Little Girl Who Refused To Die,” Good Housekeeping, August 1991, pp. 90-91, 132-134 

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief . Hachette Books. 

For 20 years, a Tennessee baby thief kidnapped more than 5000 children from the streets, hospitals, and shanty towns of Memphis. Now, 70 years later, survivors of her 'house of horrors' are confronting the past. 

If Georgia Tann was good at anything, it was creating co-conspirators, unfailing supporters of her work and methods. She had her low level spotters. Folks who would deliver milk to poor areas and tell her about children they’d found that fit the description on her wishlist. Blonde, blue eyed baby girl. Check. Nurses who’d tell her about unwed pregnant women who might need her “help.” And then she would just go and take the children without any kind of consequence or repercussion. Today I’m telling you the story of her team of high level co-conspirators. This level of evil doesn’t happen in a vacuum. This level of evil required the consent of doctors, lawyers, judges and senators. And Georgia somehow had them all in her pocket.

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SOURCES

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief, Hachette Books. 

EH Crump of Memphis - Historic "Boss" of the City

Crump, Edward Hull "Boss" | Tennessee Encyclopedia 

Season 2, Episode 5 

Abe David Waldauer (1896-1975) - Find a Grave Memorial 

Camille Kelley: 'The Little Irish Judge' - The Knoxville Focus 

Your baby is gone. Gone. This is the story of SO MANY MOTHERS. In this case you might do what all mothers would do, even young and poor with little resources. You would try everything to get your baby back. But, we’re talking about fighting Georgia Tann here so the deck is stacked so heavily against you... there will be no winning. The doctor who delivered your baby… he’s on Georgia Tann’s payroll and when you sue Georgia Tann, he’ll testify against you. He’ll say that you knew exactly what you were doing when you signed those papers and gave your baby away. And you’ll lose.

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SOURCES

The Woman Who Became a Millionaire by Selling Children | by Sal | History of Yesterday

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief. Hachette Books. 

Georgia Tann: The Mastermind of a Black Market Baby Ring That Lasted for Three Decades | by Robyn Kagan Harrington | Exploring History | Medium

The thing about Georgia moving to Memphis is that it was so well-suited for her personality and needs. She was direct, never subtle, demanding what she wanted and didn’t make any effort to hide her crimes. By 1924, Ed Crump had created a culture of fear in Memphis and citizens were fearful to criticize him or his friends for any reason. And Georgia Tann quickly became friends with Crump.

Georgia dove head first into the adoption scene in Memphis, making every contact she could do further her mission. She visited merchants door-to-door, soliciting donations and espousing the benefits of adoption. It benefited not only children, she emphasized, but taxpayers, who would be spared the cost of maintaining orphanages. She mentioned the tax aspect often, and in the 1930s claimed to have saved Memphis citizens $218,000 by arranging two thousand adoptions.

Suppport the Show → https://www.patreon.com/swagfampodcastnetwork

SOURCES

Early Twentieth Century | A History of Tennessee Student Edition

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief.  Hachette Books. 

Edward Hull "Boss" Crump (1874 - 1954) - Genealogy

In this episode,  I’m going to show you that Georgia Tann, though a monster, accomplished something incredible. She made undesirable children… well, desirable. When Georgia was growing up, people would not adopt children because of a huge belief in eugenics. I’ll explain what that is in a minute. But, just picture the mass immigration to the United States, the exorbitant amount of children in poverty and orphaned little ones in the streets of New York and Boston. Then, the Orphan Trains we talked about last episode. The crazy thing is that orphans were undesirable, unwanted, tainted by their poor, unfortunate parents and nobody wanted them unless it was to use them for labor.

Suppport the Show → https://www.patreon.com/swagfampodcastnetwork

SOURCES

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief. Hachette Books.  

Baby Farming - Adoption History

Baby Farming | Encyclopedia.com

Eugenics - Adoption History

Baby farming - Wikipedia

If you’ve never heard of Georgia Tann, you are in for a wild ride. Her story is one of those that you can’t quite believe was allowed to happen. It’s one of those that makes you wonder just HOW some people gain power and then are able to stay in that power and use it and use it without consequence. Honestly, we usually see men in these types of power plays so that’s what makes this story even more fascinating. How did she become a woman so comfortable in her own skin and bold in her actions to take over an entire industry and make it something new, something sinister, something manipulative and diseased? That’s the thing I so wanted to understand and uncover. Today, we’re going to look at Georgia’s beginnings. Who and what shaped her into the complex, corrupt and strange woman she became?

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SOURCES

Raymond, Barbara Bisantz. The Baby Thief . Hachette Books. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Train

Yellow Fever - the plague of Memphis

'Orphan Trains' Brought Homeless NYC Children to Work On Farms Out West - HISTORY

 What do you do when you are poor and have nothing and are worried for your sick child? Do you let this woman who says she'll pay for his medical care take your child? The thing is, it doesn’t really matter because once she has a target in mind, she’ll find a way to take that baby anyway. 

This season we look at the intriguing life of the woman responsible for completely changing how adoption was viewed…for making adoption socially acceptable, even desirable. But her methods… they were vicious and cruel.  

THIS season we tell the story of Georgia Tann. I’m your host Brigetta Schwaiger and this is Now I’m Intrigued.

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