'Who is most likely to sleep through her own labor?'

Unwed pregnant women were sent away by their families, turned into 'inmates,' and still found a way to laugh.

Courtesy of the University of Illinois Chicago library.

I recently got my hands on a digitized copy of a newsletter published in 1965 by the residents of the Florence Crittenton Anchorage in Chicago. It’s the home for unwed mothers where my mom was sent after getting pregnant with my sister at the age of 18.

My mom was one of over a million unwed pregnant…