appeal to natural mothers who relinquished children in non-kinship adoptions during the decades from the 1940s through the 1990s:

Prof. Elizabeth Samuels, from the University of Baltimore School of
Law, has issued this appeal to birth mothers who relinquished children
in non-kinship adoptions during the decades from the 1940s through the
1990s:

“I am collecting surrender documents that women signed during
the period frob m the 1940s through the 1990s in adoptions in which
the birth and adoptive parents did not know one another [meaning it was non-kinship]. So far women
have generously shared with almost 70 documents from 25 different
states. I am planning to write about the language and the legal import
of the language that was used in these documents with respect to the
rights and obligations of birth mothers. While it would be impossible
to define or collect a ‘representative sample’ of documents, I believe
a paper about the documents can help advance our understanding, and
correct some misunderstandings, about the nature of the legal
agreements into which mothers typically entered. If you have such a
document and are willing to share it — and have not yet shared it with
me — please send a copy, or any questions about the project, or both,
to: Prof. Elizabeth Samuels University of Baltimore School of Law 1420
North Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201-5779"