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Backstory Blog

Motion to Purchase Wigs Approve

October 22, 2019
This obscure note in the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society hinted at a legacy of medical research on children.

Contractor of Waists

October 15, 2019
When my own great-grandfather deserted his family, he left his sons to be raised as orphans.

Ever Efficient Boy of the Home

October 08, 2019
Though he had two living parents, my grandfather grew up in Manhattan’s Hebrew Orphan Asylum.

Conditions Among Animals

October 01, 2019
For pediatricians eager to cure and prevent disease, orphanages provided the perfect conditions for medical research.

A Wall They Cannot See

September 24, 2019
To live as a closeted lesbian in the 1950s required women to keep secrets from colleagues, friends, and family.