Gladney Center for Adoption
It evolved into lobbying, international adoptions, counseling, maternity services, education and philanthropy.
By 1886, the Texas and Pacific Railway was operating and at least four stockyards were in service close to the railroad lines.
The Orphan Train Movement transported roughly 200,000 children from the northeast throughout the Midwest and as far west as Texas.
Reverend IZT Morris (born Spalding Co, Georgia, March 21, 1847), a Methodist circuit minister, began locating homes for children who had reached the end of the line in Fort Worth.
In 1949 she convinced the board of directors to purchase a small hospital, the West Texas Maternity Home, so that these women could receive medical care throughout their pregnancies and have a private place to deliver their babies.
In recognition of her continued contribution, in 1950 the board of directors renamed the agency The Edna Gladney Home.
Services were intended to meet residents' physical and emotional needs with an emphasis on providing a non-judgmental environment where these women were encouraged to think positively about their future and that of their offspring.
Believed to be the first of its kind in the country, Gladney offered a free crisis pregnancy telephone hotline in 1976.
In 1991, the board of directors officially changed the name of the institution to the Gladney Center for Adoption to reflect its expanded services.
Frank Garrott, who had an extraordinary record of success furthering the Gladney mission, announced his decision to retire in October 2017.
On December 1, 2017, the Gladney Center of Adoption announced the appointment of Mark Melson to be the institution's president and CEO.
In 2021, Gladney voiced support for adult adoptee access to their Original Birth Certificates in response to current proposed legislation in Texas.
Beginning with Reverend Morris' commitment to finding homes, not just employment, for children, Gladney has had a history of advocacy.
Edna Gladney led two major initiatives resulting in significant changes to adoption practices.
Her efforts led Texas to issue second birth certificates in the names of adoptive parents.
She argued successfully that these children should be legally adopted rather than placed in long-term guardianship, as was the practice at the time.
After an MGM publicist and his wife adopted a child from the Texas Children's Home and Aid Society he presented Mrs. Gladney's life story to then head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Louis Mayer.
In 1953, she appeared on the television show This Is Your Life, where she was honored for a career that oversaw the permanent placement of more than 10,000 children.
[10] Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth, granted her an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1957.
[13] Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas nominated McMahon for the Angels in Adoption award in 2008.
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI)[14] honored him at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on September 16, 2008.
"[19] The founder of adoption.com, Nathan Gwilliam, will become a vice president and member of the Gladney executive team as part of the transaction.
