|Florence Crittenton Home, Kansas City|
|Charles Nelson Crittenton|
By 1895 Dr. Kate Waller Barrett, an Episcopalian minister’s wife and mother of six, joined forces with Dr. Crittenton. Dr. Barrett’s primary interest was to assist unwed mothers. After completing her nursing course in 1894 at the Florence Nightingale Training School in London and her medical degree at the Women’s College of Georgia, in Atlanta, she and Crittenton partnered to establish up to 73 homes for unwed expectant mothers across America. The National Florence Crittenton Mission became a well known safe-haven for unwed, troubled girls. Most of the homes served between 8-15 girls, but then there were the larger Florence Crittenton homes, like that in Kansas City.
|Willows Maternity Home, KCMO|
At that time, Kansas City also was the home of the Florence Crittenton Home, The St. Vincent’s Hospital, Eastside Maternity Hospital (aka Kansas City Cradle) and the Florence Home for Colored Girls.
Where are the Records?
Be sure to check with State Historical Societies and manuscripts for these records.
Note on Adoptions: Although the homes mentioned in this post historically encouraged the women to keep their child, the same homes were used as adoption agencies.
 The New York Times, 17 Nov. 1909, Page 9; http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F06E3DA1630E733A25754C1A9679D946897D6CF, online access 19 May 2010