Flair was among thousands of children moved through the Memphis branch of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society under Beulah George “Georgia” Tann. From about 1924 until 1950, Tann arranged an estimated 5,000 adoptions, many involving kidnapping, coercion or fraud.
Ric Flair entered Georgia Tann’s adoption pipeline shortly after his birth in Memphis on February 25, 1949. Born Fred Phillips to Luther and Olive Phillips, he was adopted about a month later by Dr. Richard Reid Fliehr and Kathleen Fliehr, who raised him in Minnesota.
Flair’s biological mother was reportedly told that her baby had died or been abandoned, while falsified paperwork obscured what had happened. Some tampered records identified him as Fred Demaree or Fred Stewart.
In the 2022 Peacock documentary “Woooooo! Becoming Ric Flair,” he confirmed his original name: “Fred Phillips — I just found that out three years ago.” His 2004 autobiography, “To Be the Man,” includes a chapter titled “Black Market Baby.”
Georia Tann’s operation targeted poor families and unmarried mothers. Children could be removed under the guise of medical care, while mothers were told their babies had died. Tann and her associates forged histories, altered or destroyed records and placed children with wealthy families outside Tennessee for substantial fees. She reportedly kept as much as 80% to 90% of the money in some cases.
The children considered most desirable, often blond, blue-eyed white infants, were sent to adoptive homes as far away as New York and California. Disease, malnutrition and neglect at the Memphis facility contributed to the deaths of hundreds of children.
Tann’s operation had protection from the political machine of Memphis boss E.H. “Boss” Crump. Shelby County Juvenile Court Judge Camille Kelley approved questionable removals that helped move children into Tann’s custody.
Tennessee Governor Gordon Browning launched an investigation around September 11 or 12, 1950. Tann died of uterine cancer on September 15 at age 59, days after the investigation began and before she could face charges. The Memphis branch closed soon afterward, and no one was criminally prosecuted.
A civil case against Tann’s estate recovered only a fraction of the fortune she had amassed, estimated at more than $1 million. Altered and destroyed records left parents searching for missing children and adoptees trying to recover their identities for decades.