Following the Civil War there were 30k homeless children in NYC. Many infants were abandoned. Sr Mary Irene Fitzgibbon, a Sister of Charity, rented a house, placed a crib in front with the sign The Home for Foundlings—and waited. That night the first baby was left in the crib.
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Within a month 44 more had arrived; in the first year more than 1000. Eventually the city donated an entire block and $100k for her New York Foundlings. She also established a maternity hospital and home for single mothers. She died Aug 14 1896.
