Talk:Georgia Tann

scandal
The Tennessee Children's Home Society thing was a huge scandal in the 1950s with screaming headlines and the whole deal. This woman worked with a corrupt female judge to literally snatch children from playgrounds and front yards and offer them for sale to the highest bidder. She did a lot of legitimate adoption work too, which makes things even more confusing. Thousands of parents are still trying to discover where their children went, thousands of adoptees are trying to find out who they really are. I couldn't find any reference to her in the articles on adoption or orphanages, so I thought I would do one about her and possibly a separate one about the Society although I don't think so. I am not one of the people affected, I am just interested in the story. You may have seen the film Stolen Babies with Mary Tyler Moore some years ago, or read Babies For Sale by Linda Astin. --Bluejay Young 13:00, 4 April 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, maybe <500 Google hits, but for something that happened in the 1950's, the number of hits "required" should probably lower, don't you think? Elf-friend 08:45, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

A number of her illegal adoptions were apparently attempts to rescue abused children. This is why it gets so confusing. Bluejay Young 04:41, 11 April 2006 (UTC)


 * Yes, but as mentioned in the first paragraph above, this was a VERY huge scandal - at the time. And it involved mainly Georgia Tann and that crooked judge. Even up to circa 1970, the name Georgia Tann invoked fear in southern mothers. However, she is largely unknown now... Even a dispassionate article in Wikipedia could make more mention of efforts to re-unite these children with birth parents, and open disclosure laws. This affected several thousand babies down south; and the psychological fallout probably hit their kids too. My fam to this day can't be quite sure what happened to one of our great-uncles. He either died circa 1960 or is in fact a very old gentleman in the mid-west who will not acknowledge us (and refuses DNA testing)...Engr105th 23:42, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Other information
I'm not sure whether this belongs in the main article (which I have deleted it from), but I don't see any harm in including it on the talk page:

For information on illegal adoptions through the Tennessee Children's Home, the following address can be contacted: The Right To Know/P.O. Box 34334/Memphis, TN 38134.


 * Better Homes & Gardens, or some such magazine, had a fairly well-researched story about the infamous Georgia Tann. (Fairly well researched for a periodical of that type). This article appeared circa 1990-91. Anybody got a copy?....Engr105th 23:28, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Ric Flair ??
The blurb about Ric Flair does not make sense as written. "June Allyson and husband Dick Powell also used the Memphis-based home for adopting a child, as did Ric Flair." Flair was born in 1949 - there is no way he used Georgia Tann's services (presumably 20+ yrs later??) to adopt a child. Is the statement meant to say he's one of the children adopted by means of Georgia T's nefarious methods?....Engr105th 23:33, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Stolen Babies
I'm wondering whether it's known or not if Georgia Tann ever took a baby that was part of a set of twins. In the 1940's of course there was no method of sonogram, and it was a best guess during a pregnancy whether or not a woman would have twins. As a rule, it was usually a surprise when twins were born. I'm wondering one other thing. Is it known whether or not this woman ever aquired babies from North Carolina. 65.188.235.241 (talk) 02:19, 2 November 2008 (UTC)D.Medlin


 * I don't think she ever operated in NC. Fromwhat I've read, she seems to have focused on western TN, northern Mississippi and Arkansas, where she had influence with the judicial authorities and child-service agencies...Engr105th (talk) 08:51, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Merger proposal
While the topic of the Tennessee Children's Home Society is unquestionably notable, the article contains little to no content that is not more extensively covered in the article on Georgia Tann. Since she was the owner and operator of TCHS, she and the "organization" were functionally one and the same, and it ended upon her death. I propose that the article be merged into the article "Georgia Tann."--Esprit15d • talk • contribs 02:26, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I support merging the topics, but in the direction of the TCHS article. —   Fourthords  &#124; =Λ= &#124; 15:13, 29 October 2019 (UTC)
 * It would be inappropriate for the adoption article to be solely about her. However, Georgia Tann is, sadly, one of the most relevant people in the history of adoption. You can't tell the story of adoption without her and Wikipedia would be incomplete without an article about her. It would be the equivalent of merging the Steve Jobs article into Apple.--Esprit15d • talk • contribs 20:40, 30 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I've gone ahead and removed the merge templates, simply because the discussion petered out without a consensus to merge. I have no opinion myself, and I'd be fine if someone came along and reopened the discussion. I dream of horses (talk) (contribs) Remember to &#123;&#123;ping&#125;&#125; me after replying off my talk page 09:11, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Original research
The quality of this article has kind of degraded as more editorial, essay-style paragraphs with no references have been inserted. Anyone who wants to help with the effort (1) remove POV, anecdotal stories, (2) find references, and (3) trim anything that qualifies as original research would be welcome.--Esprit15d • talk • contribs 01:55, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

Biased article
The article as it exists has sections that are rambling, unsourced, and editorializing. I am concerned that the article is being used to promote a certain kind of strident anti-adoption politics. I am also concerned that some of the language used to describe Tann is misogynistic. The article can be edited to reflect the gravity of her crimes without the POV content and sexism. Bohemian Baltimore (talk) 13:42, 17 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Please provide specific examples that can be properly accessed.--Esprit15d • talk • contribs 16:19, 6 February 2024 (UTC)