Publisher's Synopsis
"The story of The Foundling begins in the bustling New York City of the mid-nineteenth century where a half million people, mostly immigrant and poor, struggled to turn their dreams of a better life into reality. Some thirty thousand children roamed the streets of the city and accounted for most of the felony crimes. Thousands more never lived long enough to experience such a dreadful existence-they died of neglect, disease, malnourishment, or abandonment. Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon, Sister Teresa Vincent McCrystal, and two other Sisters of Charity responded to this urgent need. With a gift of five dollars toward their work, they opened one of the first foundling asylums in the United States on October 11, 1869. That very evening, a desperate mother left her baby on the steps of The Foundling's brownstone in Greenwich Village. From those humble beginnings, The Foundling has grown to become one of the largest organizations of its kind
