Georgia Tann: Tennessee’s Baby Killer

On September 15, 1950, Georgia Tann died from complications with cancer. At the time of her death, it was estimated that she had trafficked over 5,000 children and had been responsible for at least 19 infant deaths. She committed all of these atrocities while branding herself as the “Mother of Modern Adoption.” Georgia Tann’s legacy now lives on infamously as many of the children who were trafficked were forever lost, never to be returned to their families.

Tann was born in Mississippi on July 18, 1891. She studied music in college and settled comfortably in a career in social work in Mississippi. After being terminated from her job for questionable child-placing practices Tann moved to Memphis, Tennessee with her alleged lesbian lover, Ann Atwood. It was at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society that she committed her crimes.

Tann would pressure single mothers into handing over their children. She would threaten legal action or would tell the mothers that she would provide medical care for their sick infants. She would then tell the mothers days later that their children had died of an illness and that she had already buried them. Tann and her associates would then sell the babies to wealthy parents in New York or California. It is estimated that 3,000 of the children who were trafficked were sent to either California or New York. Tann would keep the children in cruel conditions. The infants who were actually sick rarely received medical help. The children were underfed and malnourished. When a baby cried for too long, the infant would be left outside until they stopped crying. There were allegations of sexual abuse by Tann and her staff. The staff would wear nurse’s uniforms, however, most of the staff were substance abusers and had little to no medical training. The children who were not sold to wealthy families were usually sold to child labor institutions. It is estimated that 19 babies died while in Tann’s custody but the exact number is uncertain.

Rumors of what Tann was up to started to spread across Memphis. To meet the demand of her out-of-state customers, she resorted to kidnappings. She would open the center for daycare and then tell the parents that the children had disappeared. Tann regularly destroyed any records that she kept and would provide parents with false records about the children.

Adoption laws in Tennessee were lax in the 30s and 40s, but in an effort to stop the selling of children, adoption agencies were only allowed to charge $7 for their services in the state. Tann’s solution was to sell the children to parents in New York and California for insane prices. Tann committed her crimes with the help of Memphis Family Court Judge Camille Kelley. Should parents pursue legal action against Tann, Kelley would rule that the home was unsafe and that Tann provided a better home life. Kelley would also put the children of divorced families in Tann’s care.

After all the rumors, Tennessee Governor Gordon Browning, launched an investigation into the agency. Tann died from cancer a few days later, avoiding arrest. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society was shut down in 1950 and in 1951, Tennessee reformed its adoption laws. 19 children who died under Tann’s custody were buried in Elmwood Cemetery with a monument memorializing their death.

Prior to Tann’s agency, adoption was rare and seen as taboo. The only positive legacy Tann left behind was a removed stigma behind adoption and a plethora of adoption reforms across the country. She died with the title of “the Mother of Modern Adoption,” but her name lives in infamy as one of the most prolific serial killers in America.

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