Were 7 Pregnant Girls Rescued from Traffickers at Bostons South Station?
“Seven girls—ages eleven to fourteen, six of them visibly pregnant—stood on the train platform at Boston's South Station on September 22, 1920, being led by two men and three women toward a train bound for "St. Mary's Home for Wayward Girls" in upstate New York—when suddenly a woman in the crowd, Mrs. Catherine Walsh, age fifty-two, had shouted "THOSE ARE CHILDREN! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING THEM?"—and within seconds, over thirty women on the platform had formed a human chain blocking the train doors, and Mrs. Walsh had confronted the group's leaders: "Why are pregnant children being taken to New York?"—and one of the women had answered "These girls are unwed mothers going to a home for rehabilitation"—but Mrs. Walsh had walked up to the girls and asked directly "Are you married?"—and five of the six pregnant girls had whispered "Yes" and shown wedding rings, and one girl, age eleven, had sobbed "They told my parents I have to go there after my baby comes to learn to be a good mother, but I heard they take the babies"—and Mrs. Walsh had shouted to the crowd "THESE ARE CHILD BRIDES BEING TRAFFICKED! SOMEONE CALL POLICE!"—and the thirty women had refused to move from the train doors while Mrs. Walsh had kept the group there until police arrived—and investigation revealed the "home" was actually a facility where child mothers were separated from their babies (adopted out for fees), then kept as unpaid labor for years—and all seven girls were taken into protective custody, their "husbands" (ranging in age from thirty-two to forty-seven) were arrested, and the "St. Mary's Home" was raided, revealing forty-three child mothers being held there—and Mrs. Walsh and the thirty women who'd formed the human chain were credited with exposing a multi-state child trafficking operation. The youngest girl, age eleven, lived until 2005, dying at age ninety-six. Before her death, she reflected: "I was eleven and pregnant, being taken to a train that would separate me from my baby. A stranger on the platform saw us—seven pregnant children being led away—and shouted 'Those are children!' Within seconds, thirty women formed a human chain blocking the train. They wouldn't move until police came. That human chain of strangers saved seven of us and led to forty-three more girls being rescued. One woman's shout, thirty women's bodies blocking a train, changed everything.”
Summary
No historical records or recent police reports document a 1920 incident at Boston’s South Station involving pregnant girls, a human chain, and a raid on “St. Mary’s Home for Wayward Girls.” The available sources only reference unrelated historic sites and modern trafficking investigations, indicating the described event did not occur.
Sources 60 searched
- OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE 310 Washington Street / 2 Milk Street, Boston
OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE · 310 Washington Street / 2 Milk Street, Boston
- The Siege of Boston: An Overview (U.S. National Park Service)
An official website of the United States government · Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States
- Investigation Leads to Arrest on Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Charges in Boston – Boston Police Department
The Human Trafficking Unit continues to actively investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.
- Human Trafficking Unit – Boston Police Department
As a result of an investigation, on Friday, February 13, 2026, members of the Boston Police Human Trafficking Unit and the Crimes Against Children Unit (ICAC), along with the Massachusetts State Police High-Risk Victims Squad, executed a Search Warrant at 45 Peterborough Street, Apartment 34, in Boston As a result of the evidence obtained during this investigation, Talik […]
- Boston Police Human Trafficking Unit Arrests Suspect in Child Sex Trafficking Case – Boston Police Department
Investigators ultimately gained ... further incident. A subsequent search of the vehicle and Pina’s person led to the recovery of several plastic bags containing marijuana, a digital scale, multiple denominations of U.S. currency, and condoms. Pina was transported to District D-4 for booking and was arraigned in South Boston District Court on the following charges: ... The Boston Police Department remains committed to identifying and rescuing victims of trafficking and holding ...
- Boston police strike for better working conditions, 1919 | Global Nonviolent Action Database
Sporadic confrontations among the replacement police and rioting crowd continued at Scollay Square, along with property destruction by the rioters. Some of the crowd cornered several Harvard students. When the first round of mounted troops arrived, they had to intervene to rescue groups of cornered police.
- Our History
Mary’s Center until 1993 when the hospital closed and the current-day St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children was established. ... 1870: An infant is left on the steps of St. James’ Church in Boston’s South End and is taken in by the Daughters of Charity at Carney Hospital, then located in South Boston.
- St. Mary’s Infant Asylum, 90 Cushing Avenue - Dorchester Atheneum
They tried to find shelter for the child and finally, because there was nowhere else, they took the child to the struggling Carney Hospital in south Boston where the Daughters of Charity took the infant in.
- St. Mary’s Infant Asylum - Boston Women's Heritage Trail
St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, successor to St. Mary’s Infant Asylum and St. Margaret’s Hospital, offers housing, education, and workforce development for young mothers
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