Results: 4 Children for Sale (Part 5 of 6)
This photo was first was published in 1948, with the caption, “A big ‘For Sale’ sign in a Chicago yard mutely tells the tragic story of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Chalifoux, who face eviction from their apartment. With no place to turn, the jobless coal truck driver and his wife decide to sell their four children. Mrs. Lucille Chalifoux turns her head from camera above while her children stare wonderingly. On the top step are Lana, 6, and Rae, 5. Below are Milton, 4, and Sue Ellen, 2.” Actually, Lucille and the kids had been abandoned by her husband who didn't return because of his criminal record. Daughter RaeAnn claimed she was sold so her mother could get money to play Bingo, and because the man Lucille was dating at the time didn't want to have anything to do with children.
1.
1.
Sue Ellen (2, and lower right in the photo) was legally adopted and grew up nearby in Chicago's East Side. Do you think it matters whether or not adopted children are raised near their original homes?
It could make things more complicated.
8%
•
87 votes
It could make things easier.
11%
•
122 votes
It's irrelevant.
21%
•
222 votes
I have no clue.
36%
•
387 votes
N/A
24%
•
264 votes
2.
2.
Sue Ellen (on the left) developed COPD and was in very poor health when she was blessed with a visit from her sister RaeAnn, who had tracked her down on the internet. Months later she died at 67 in 2013. Unable to speak during her last interview, she scribbled responses to questions on paper. Grateful to be reunited with her sister, she shared, "It's fabulous. I love her". When asked about her birth mother Lucille, she wrote, "She needs to be in hell burning". Knowing Lucille never expressed remorse or showed love when reunited with her children, can you understand Sue Ellen's feeling about her mother as she did?
Absolutely, Lucille was a disgusting mother.
34%
•
363 votes
Yes, but Sue Ellen should have let go of her anger for her own sake.
16%
•
178 votes
Sue Ellen should not judge.
4%
•
39 votes
What Lucille did was not deserving of Sue Ellen's comment.
2%
•
26 votes
No, I can't.
6%
•
65 votes
I would never say that about anyone.
6%
•
68 votes
N/A
32%
•
343 votes
3.
3.
Sue Ellen's son Tim said when he misbehaved as a kid, his mother would warn him to be good or she would sell him, just like her mother sold her. He considered it an outlandish threat until he saw the photo showing the Chalifoux children were for sale. Has a parent ever threatened to send you away?
Yes
10%
•
103 votes
No
54%
•
579 votes
No, but other verbal threats were made like calling the police, dragging me from the back of a car, or locking me inside a trunk.
6%
•
70 votes
N/A
30%
•
330 votes
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