Paths toward autonomy: The living conditions of fostered children in western France in the early 20th century

In order to test the validity of widespread notions about the unhappy lives of abandoned French children placed in foster care around the turn of the 20th century, the article uses the case files and inspectors' reports of the Romorantin agency to analyze the nature of fosterage: the children's continuing links to their biological parents, to their foster families, and with the Assistance publique system, which administered the fosterage system and the agency. The Romorantin agency was located in Sologne in the center of France, 120 miles south of Paris, and placed out in the countryside only children “abandoned” in Paris. The analysis suggests that although the lives of fostered children were characterized by constraints and, at times, mistreatment, in many respects, these children were able to experience more autonomy and choice to shape their lives than their peers in “normal” families. A close reading of the sources shows their lives to have had less of the stereotyped unhappiness usually attributed to them.