Introduction -- pt. 1. Essays. Informal adoption, apprentices, and indentured children in the colonial era and the new republic, 1605-1850 / Lori Askeland. Adoption reform, orphan trains, and child saving, 1851-1929 / Marilyn Irvin Holt. Science, social work, and bureaucracy : cautious developments in adoption and foster care, 1930-1969 / Dianne Creagh. Civil rights, adoption rights : domestic adoption and foster care, 1970 to the present / Martha Satz and Lori Askeland. International adoption / Elizabeth Bartholet. The orphan in American children's literature / Claudia Nelson -- pt. 2. Documents. Multicultural forms of adoption and foster care before 1850. "Orphan trains," child-saving, and the modernization of adoption law, 1851-1929. Science and secrecy : adoption, orphanages, and foster care, 1930-1969. Contemporary issues in domestic adoption, 1970-present. International adoption law. Orphans in literature for American children -- pt. 3. Bibliography. General adoption and child welfare history references and online resources. Orphans, orphanages, and orphan stories : early forms of adoption and fostering in multicultural and interdisciplinary perspectives. Secrecy and adoption : infertility, illegitimacy, parental "fitness" tests, and the move to openness in the 20th century. Crossing boundaries : issues and controversies in contemporary foster care and adoption.