This episode explores the history of the orphanage—how it emerged, why it flourished for centuries, and ultimately why it collapsed as a model of child care. We begin by examining how societies cared for orphaned children before orphanages existed, then trace the rise of influential orphanages during the Byzantine Empire, the Renaissance, and the Industrial Revolution. Finally, we explore the social, political, and scientific forces that led to the decline of the orphanage and examine the systems that replaced it.

The Schedo from the episode is

“This cod last, eye em missing two, fore, ever moar it lust’ keeps gow wing bend? knot in store.
The coast sez, “fun las’ thing” den dozen, den Score tea moar eye check, mi, phonne still sing same ep, more..
Ad brake know, chanse know; no term soars mi braine’s inn, a transe, eye, pray, bat tree dye, shore.”

If you solve it, put it in the comment section below.

Music Credits

Piano & Harpsichord: Margarita Denenburg

"O Gladsome Light" — Yana Lowry, Tracy Huening, Trey Lewis & Mike Huening (Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church, Raleigh, NC)

Vivaldi – Winter and J.S. Bach – Cello Suite performed by Lud and Schlatts Musical Emporium, conducted by Philip Milman.

Reference Materials

General History of Orphanages

Crenson – Building the Invisible Orphanage
Hacsi – Second Home
Holt – Home Away from Home
Reef – Alone in the World
Hulsey – The Sun Won't Come Out Tomorrow
McKenzie – Rethinking Orphanages for the 21st Century

Workhouses & Child Labor

Crowther – The Workhouse System
Humphries – Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution
Brown – A Memoir of Robert Blincoe
Berry – "Occupational Distribution of Foundling Apprentices"

Renaissance Florence

Gavitt – Charity and Children in Renaissance Florence
Testa – An Art Lover's Guide to Florence
Sinclair – Review of Charity and Children in Renaissance Florence

Byzantine Child Welfare

Miller – The Orphans of Byzantium
Bernard – Writing and Reading Byzantine Secular Poetry
Marciniak – Teaching Lucian in Middle Byzantium
Marciniak – "A Pious Mouse and a Deadly Cat"

Soviet Orphans

Stone – Growing Up Soviet?
And Now My Soul Is Hardened
Silence Was Salvation

American Orphanages

Murray – The Charleston Orphan House
Ramey – Child Care in Black and White
Bogen – The Luckiest Orphans
Polster – Inside Looking Out
Fuchs – Abandoned Children

Music & Orphanages

Gjerdingen – Child Composers in the Old Conservatories (2020)
Busser – De "Pelléas" aux "Indes galantes"...
Chaplin – My Autobiography

Historical Articles

Philippides – "The Fall of Constantinople"
Kendrick – "The Origins of Residential Child Care Services in Scotland"
Foster Care Research

Major Studies

Pecora et al. – What Works in Foster Care? (2009)
Casey Family Programs – Texas Foster Care Alumni Study (2013)
Zeanah et al. – "Alternatives for Abandoned Children" (2017)

Outcomes

Gypen et al. – "Outcomes of Children Who Grew Up in Foster Care"
McKenzie – "Orphanage Alumni" (1997)
Dworsky et al. – "Homelessness During the Transition to Adulthood" (2013)
Hook & Courtney – "Does Education Pay for Youth Formerly in Foster Care?" (2014)
Okpych & Courtney – "Longitudinal Analyses of Educational Outcomes" (2019)
Cusick et al. – Crime During the Transition to Adulthood (2010)
Crawford et al. – "Risk of Serious Criminal Involvement…" (2018)
McMahon & Fields – "Criminal Conduct Subgroups…" (2015)

Organizational Reports

SOS Children's Villages – 70 Years of Impact (2019)
Milton Hershey School – Brown & Gold Report 2020
Hilliard – Testimony: Aging Out of Foster Care (2014)
Davi – "Children Are Languishing in Foster Care…" (2026)