• Headline: "Ms. Spoelstra Receives the 15th Sopa Bang Jung Hwan Award"
• Source: Maeil Business Newspaper
• Date of Publication: November 25, 1971
• Summary: 

Elvinah Spoelstra, a 46-year-old social worker from the United States, has been honored with the 15th Sopa Bang Jung Hwan Award by the Saessakhoe, led by Seokjung Yoon. Born in Denver, Washington, on February 26, 1925, Spoelstra earned a master’s degree in social work from a university in Colorado and worked with child welfare services in Denver.

Arriving in Korea in 1966, she led the Christian Adoption Program of Korea (CAPOK) for six years, facilitating 1,200 adoptions of orphans, including children of unwed mothers. Her work laid the foundation for domestic adoption services in Korea, earning her this distinguished recognition.

• Archiving Note:  

From the post-World War II era to the early 1970s, the United States witnessed pervasive stigmatization of unwed pregnancy and childbirth. During this period, the emerging discipline of social work established welfare systems that prioritized separating children from unwed mothers and placing them with married adoptive couples. As a result, approximately 1.5 million unwed mothers lost their babies to adoption, a phenomenon known as the "Baby Scoop Era" (Wilson-Buterbaugh, The Baby Scoop Era: Unwed Mothers, Infant Adoption, and Forced Surrender, 2017). 

Elvinah Spoelstra, a social work professional who had studied and practiced within the context of the Baby Scoop Era in the United States, became head of the Korean Christian Adoption Program (CAPOK) in 1966. In 1969, she introduced counseling services for unwed mothers in Korea. The adoption-centered welfare model she implemented mirrored U.S. practices, emphasizing the separation of unwed mothers from their children, temporary foster care, and eventual adoption placements. This approach significantly shaped adoption-focused welfare services for unwed mothers in Korea. 

Reference: 

Wilson-Buterbaugh, Karen. The Baby Scoop Era: Unwed Mothers, Infant Adoption, and Forced Surrender. Karen Wilson-Buterbaugh, 2017.

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