News Article, Holt Continues with Babylift, 1962

On February 20, 1962, the Oregon Journal ran this article by staff writer Charles B. Steers. It presents the views of Harry Holt, evangelist and well-known international adoption advocate, regarding recent changes to laws governing adoption procedures. Quotes by Holt reveal his dissatisfaction with the work of professional adoption agencies—both private and public. The article highlights tensions that surfaced between philanthropic amateurs and social science professionals as adoption became increasingly regulated throughout the twentieth century.

Harry Holt first came into the national spotlight in 1955, when he and his wife, Bertha, adopted eight Korean War orphans. A wealthy man from his lumber and farming pursuits in Creswell, Oregon, Holt subsequently dedicated his life to finding U.S. homes for thousands of Korean orphans through the practice of proxy adoptions—adoptions arranged between foreign governments and agents who acted on behalf of adoptive parents.  In his much publicized “babylifts,” Holt flew hundreds of babies at a time from Korea to the United States, where their new parents greeted them for the first time at the airport.

The press largely touted Holt as a humanitarian who was driven by his Christian faith and love of children. However, many professional social service agencies, such as International Social Service and various state welfare agencies, disliked his methods. Such organizations favored standardized safeguards to help ensure successful placements, such as background investigations and probation periods for potential parents. Some called for special instruction to help parents of foreign children become more sensitive to cultural differences and to the potential challenges of raising a multicultural family.

Holt interpreted certain regulations as ways to thwart his efforts. He felt that some agencies still favored the practice of matching children’s and parents’ physical and racial traits, the open and standard custom of most professional social service agencies only a decade before. As this article indicates, Holt regarded the safeguards of the professionals to be unnecessary bureaucratic requirements that stunted his pursuits.

Two days later the Oregon Journal reported the reaction to this article by Director Stuart Stimmel of the Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon. His retort serves as a gauge to the sensitive nature of the issue. “I think everyone will agree that no good can come from the claims of any person that only he can help children,” commented Stimmel. Speaking of his own agency’s practices, Stimmel stated, “When children are legally free for adoption, our only objective is to place them as soon as possible with loving, stable parents.  This includes children of all races and creeds.”

Further Reading:
Aeby, John. A Home for Every Child. Eugene, Oreg., 1986.

Herman, Ellen. “The Paradoxical Rationalization of Modern Adoption.” Journal of Social History, 36, 2002: 339-385.

Written by Sara Paulson, © Oregon Historical Society, 2006.