The New York Foundling Hospital, now located in a new, modern building (Fig. 1) has been in continuous operation for over 90 years. The New York Foundling Asylum, as it was originally known, opened its doors on October 11, 1869; it was the first institution in the United States devoted exclusively to the care of abandoned, neglected or dependent infants, regardless of race or creed. It preceded, by only 2 years, Chicago's Foundling Home, which was organized in 1871 by Dr. George Elias Shipman, a well-known New York physician who had migrated to Chicago.
The New York Foundling Asylum was founded by the Roman Catholic Order of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; it had, as its primary objective, the reduction of the appalling rate of infanticide in New York City, most of these deaths being attributable to exposure. In the first year of operation, 61% of the infants admitted were in extremis. While it may be an exaggeration to say that the streets of New York were covered with dead and dying infants, it certainly would not be an exaggeration to say that it was commonplace. Indeed as late as 1892, according to Thomas Knox, 200 foundlings and 100 dead infants were found in New York City streets.
The first residence of the New York Foundling Asylum was a modest, 4-story brownstone building at 17 East 12th Street (Fig. 2). This building was situated on the north side of the street between Fifth Avenue and University Place—a site now occupied by the Aristocrat Garage. The adjoining building, No. 15, partially visible in the photograph, is still standing and in use.
Bernadette McCauley, Who shall take care of our sick? Roman Catholic sisters and the development of Catholic hospitals in New York City, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 2005, pp. xiii, 146, $45.00 (hardback 978-0-8018-8216-6).