America’s French Orphans Mobilization, Humanitarianism, and the Protection of France, 1914–1921

During and after World War I, two humanitarian organizations galvanized the support of American men, women, and children to support France’s children. Between 1914 and 1921, the Committee Franco-American for the Protection of the Children of the Frontier (CFAPCF) and the Fatherless Children of France Society (FCFS) capitalized on the generosity of Americans who believed that supporting a French child in need was seen as a moral and patriotic duty. Through a network of twenty-eight colonies – private homes and estates loaned for this specific purpose – the CFAPCF rescued, sheltered, and cared for children from invaded and occupied war zones, while the FCFS asked Americans to sponsor France’s children of the war dead. Combining cultural, political, and diplomatic history, Emmanuel Destenay charts the rapid growth of these organizations and brings to light the unparalleled contribution made by Americans to support France’s children in time of war.

Endorsements:

Modern war created modern humanitarianism, and America’s French Orphans demonstrates the critical importance of volunteer efforts during World War I. Building on research scattered across two continents, Emmanuel Destenay recovers a lost chapter of this crucially important history and joins an exciting new field exploring the humanitarian legacies of World War I.” Christopher Capozzola, author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen

“Emmanuel Destenay complicates the oft-recounted story of World War I’s violence and upheaval by explaining the reciprocal relationship, albeit not always an equal one, between American humanitarians and European actors. Women and children take center stage, not just as passive recipients, but as actors seeking to alleviate suffering on their own terms. This rich social and cultural history rescues a massive system of child relief and adoption organizations from historical amnesia.” Tammy M. Proctor, author of Civilians in a World at War, 1914-1918

“By creatively blending the histories of childhood and international relations, Emmanuel Destenay’s rigorously researched account of Franco-American humanitarian efforts during World War I provides us with a new way to understand the era’s transatlantic diplomacy.” Brian Rouleau, author of Empire’s Nursery: Children’s Literature and the Origins of the American Century

Reviews:

“The book provides an in-depth and well-researched account of how the FCFS mobilized American donors to ‘adopt’ vulnerable French children during and after the war.” Margarette Andersen, French History (39), no. 1 (2025): 87–88.

“Through this emphasis on children as purposeful agents, rather than simple recipients, of humanitarian aid, Destenay provides us with a rich and deeply moving story, grounded in the voices and perspectives of its protagonists, about a critical moment in the history of American humanitarianism, the history of US-French relations, and the broader history of childhood.” Anita Casavantes Bradford, Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (24), no. 3 (2025): 87-88.

Destenay’s incredibly well researched story is a fine intervention in how Americans were mobilized to give humanitarian assistance – with a focus on a new, sympathetic population: children. Although this study is about aid going overseas, it is, he argues, ‘an American story, not a French story, written [. . .] from an American perspective’ (p. 16). Destenay must be loudly applauded for consulting over one hundred different archives, and for making incredibly good use of digitized local newspapers to discover how these philanthropies played out at the local level. Brett A. Berliner, First World War Studies 

Destenay’s book helps to expand our understanding of how and why humanitarians worked and how a neutral power and a belligerent during the first great war of the twentieth century interacted and grew their relationship. By using archives with such personal and intimate information, he centers the human in humanitarians. Historians of this history of children, social history, foreign relations, and humanitarianism will find much to enjoy in this work. Thomas D. Westerman, H-Net Reviews