Web video special feature:
What would today's experts think about the 10 Sisters case?
Find out how these child welfare experts view the case of the
Waggoner sisters' separation and whether they think a similar family
trauma could happen today.
How did courts approach child welfare in 1942, when the Waggoner
family was separated, compared to today?
This is a great personal story, but what does it tell us about
the history of the family in America?
What could the girls’ mother, Ruth Waggoner, have done instead
of giving up her children?
We asked
Mark Testa, University of Illinois associate professor of social work,
and
Joan Gittens, author of "Poor Relations: The Children of the State of
Illinois 1818-1990" and history professor at Southwest Minnesota State
University, to comment on the 10 Sisters case in light of today's laws
and attitudes toward child welfare.
We asked
Mark Testa, University of Illinois associate professor of social work,
and
Joan Gittens, author of "Poor Relations: The Children of the State of
Illinois 1818-1990" and history professor at Southwest Minnesota State
University, to comment on the 10 Sisters case in light of today's laws
and attitudes toward child welfare.
Watch the video