The Gladney Center for Adoption is 130 years old this year! We want to celebrate all year long by sharing fun and interesting adoption facts about our history and culture.  Check out all the Gladney facts for January.

1. The Gladney Center had its origins in the orphan train movement of the mid-nineteenth century, when New York, Philadelphia and other large East Coast cities were inundated with orphans and abandoned children. Those orphaned children were sent on trains throughout the Midwest, where they were placed with adoptive families. 
2. When one of the orphan train lines ended in Fort Worth, Rev. Isaac Zachary Taylor Morris and his wife, Belle, began taking the "leftover" children home and actively sought adoptive families for these children. That was the beginning of the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society.
3. At 14, I.Z.T. Morris enlisted as a "boy soldier." I.Z.T. was injured and became a prisoner of war. Upon his release, he was given "parole papers" which can be seen at the Floyd and Kathleen Cailloux Visitors Center.   Come visit Gladney’s Fort Worth Campus to learn more about Gladney’s fascinating history. By the way, it’s the only adoption museum in the country! 
4. Edna Gladney was born Edna Browning Kahly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 22, 1886. She was the daughter of a watchmaker, Maurice Kahly, and Minnie Nell Jones. She had one younger sister, Dorothy, who was born in 1895.
5. The Texas Children's Home and Aid Society (nka Gladney Center for Adoption) was formally chartered in 1896 and incorporated in 1904.  
6. The first Board of Directors was created in 1897 and it consisted of I.Z.T Morris and a few other men.
7. At the time of his death, the Rev. I.Z.T. Morris, the head of The Texas Children’s Home and Aid Society (nka the Gladney Center for Adoption) had placed an estimated 1,000 children with adoptive families. 
8. Gladney currently has 100 employees with 713.86 combined years of service in facilitating adoptions! 
9. The Houston Auxiliary held its first fundraiser in 1952 at the Shamrock Hotel, which was attended by 800 guests; several hundred guests were turned away from the event due to a lack of room. 
10. Michael J.. McMahon, former Gladney President, was responsible for the growth of Gladney's international adoption programs. Check out the countries Gladney is currently working in today.
11. Gladney took its first Service Trip with teenagers in July 2008 to Guatemala. Since then there have been other teen trips to Colombia, China, Mexico and Costa Rica and one family trip to Guatemala.  
12. Gladney’s Pathways Program held its first training in January 2011. Six years later, we’re happy to welcome our Gladney Friends who are attending the two-day Gladney Pathways today and tomorrow.  Gladney's Pathways training is designed specifically for parents adopting children over the age of two. Adopting older children can bring unique challenges, and Gladney's Pathways training helps parents be prepared to successfully meet those challenges. Based on the concept of "nurturing the whole child," the training covers the attachment, sensory, brain, and discipline needs of children who join their families after experiencing hard starts.

The Gladney Center is celebrating its 130th anniversary with a year long celebration in 2017. Happy Birthday Gladney!