Texas Children's Home and Aid Society
By 1910, Edna had joined the board of directors for the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society. Gladney studied settlement work and child welfare, and established a free day nursery in Sherman to help poor working families by watching their children so they could work freely. Thirty-five women enrolled their children on opening day of what was called the Sherman Nursery and Kindergarten for Working Women. The free day nursery was financed by Gladney and donations to collection boxes that she placed in local businesses. Gladney began to devote more and more of her time to the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society and by 1927 she had been named superintendent.
After her husband died on Valentine’s Day in 1935, Gladney continued to make the welfare of unwanted children the center of her life. She continued the work of Reverend Morris by placing abandoned children with adoptive families. She also expanded the society’s activities to focus on the care of unmarried mothers and an adoption service for their babies.
In 1950, the Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society bought the West Texas Maternity Hospital, which was renamed the Edna Gladney Home (now the Gladney Center for Adoption). The purchase of the Home expanded services to birth mothers and provided prenatal care. This new agency also operated a Baby Home where infants could receive care until their adoption.
Read more about this topic: Edna Gladney
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