They called it the childrens aid society cas with mr. Children s aid, formerly the children s aid society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in new york city founded in 1853 by charles loring brace. The first group of children went to dowagiac, michigan, in 1854, and the last official train ran to texas in 1929. The orphan train and the children who rode them new.
Orphan trains brought homeless nyc children to work on. In 1929, the children s aid society s last orphan train left new york. A powerful blend of history, biography, and adventure, orphan trains fills a grievous gap in the american story. The charitable organization was founded in new york city in 1853 to aid, educate and provide lodging for poor children in the city, andor to place them in foster homes or with employers outside of the city. Brace, charles loring 18261890 founder in 1853 of the new york 1 childrens aid society casan early childwelfare organization that provided a variety of programs for impoverished city children charles loring brace 2 was an important proponent of the cass emigration scheme. Be the first to ask a question about we rode the orphan trains. The program was started by charles loring brace of the children s aid society, but soon had many imitators. A history of the placingout program of the new york children s aid society 18531890. Children s aid was founded in 1853 by charles loring brace and a group of social reformers at a time when orphan asylums and almshouses were the only social services available for poor and homeless children in new york city.
An orphan train story, embrace authoritive research with compelling stories from the people who made history aboard the orphan trains of new york. Three years after that first orphan train left boston, charles loring brace began sending more than 300 children a year on orphan trains from new york city. Jul 18, 2018 helen macior came to chicago from new york at the age of 3 on an orphan train. The largest groups came from the new york foundling hospital, and from the children s aid society. The term orphan trains refers to the trains that carried poor urban children to western and midwestern states to be placed with foster parents. The aid institutions developed a program that placed homeless children into homes throughout the country. New york, new york fending for oneself as a child is a rough endeavor. Read more learn more american experience official site pbs.
Feb 08, 2001 excellent history of the children s aid society and the evolution of and rationale for the orphan trains. Orphan train riders were sent from new york city to western families for adoption. Foundling hospital records new york city orphan train records. Known as the orphan train, the program to relocate orphaned and abandoned children was operated largely by the children s aid society and the new york foundling hospital. Apr 09, 2019 the 35 children who gathered at new yorks childrens aid society in 1880 all had.
The family matching process was haphazard, to say the least. Nov 18, 2019 many organizations in new england placedout children via orphan trains. Guide to the records of the childrens aid society 18362006. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, new york had many orphans, particularly in new york city. The orphan trains follows the story of the new york children s aid society, created in 1853 to provide thousands of street children with homes in rural communities in the american midwest. This care led to the freehomeplacingout of over 200,000 children between 1854 and the early 1930s. The period in america s history of caring for homeless children called the freehomeplacingout era began with charles loring brace and the founders of the new york children s aid society in new york city in 1853. Nov 18, 2019 the children s aid society of new york. The new york childrens aid society and the orphan trains era.
He founded the children s aid society and felt the answer to homelessness was to be found in the fresh air and kindheartedness of the america farmer. Orphan trains springfieldgreene county library district. Orphan trains genealogical society of rockland county. In midnineteenthcentury new york, vagrant youth, both orphans and runaways, filled the streets. If the child had to be removed from the household for any reason, the childrens aid society did so at their own expense. Determined to remedy the situation, the childrens aid society and the new york foundling hospital devised a program to take children off of the streets of new york and boston and place them in homes in the american west rather than allow them to continue to be arrested and taken advantage of on the streets. I was particularly interested, though, in the last chapter where oconnor analyzes strengths and weaknesses in current foster care theory and practice, putting them in the historic context of previous american child protective practices. The orphan trains and newsboys of new york tells the story of the fate of many children in the early twentieth century, and how the childrens aid society sought to help these young people through their early lives.
Knowing that many of these city youngsters would be expected to help on a farm or in a home, brace and his staff looked at each child s ability to adapt to a new environment and made careful selections. Inspired by her mother to reveal the factual story of the children of the orphan trains, her books, extra. Oconnor has pieced together the experience of the children by drawing on the institutional reports and fundraising publications collaborative fictionalizations that the children s aid society. Teachers guide american experience official site pbs. For years the city had been sweeping these children into prisons or almshouses, but in 1853 the young minister charles loring brace proposed a radical solution to the problem by creating the children s aid society, an organization that fought to provide homeless children with shelter, education. Childrens aid operated lodging houses, fresh air programs, and industrial schools to support an estimated 30,000 poor. At its peak, the new york children s aid society was placingout thousands of children every year. The new york children s aid society was by far the largest and most prominent organization and it set an example which others followed. Oconnor is an author and former new york public school teacher. Guide to the records of the children s aid society.
The first 5 volumes are orphan train riders stories compiled by the orphan train heritage society, arranged chronologically by publication date. The children were transported to their new homes on trains which were eventually labeled orphan trains. Brace considered a number of factors about the children who were involved in the orphan train program. National orphan train complex genealogy familysearch wiki. The orphan trains were a series of social service programs that relocated poor and homeless city children. From 1854 to 1929, more than 200,000 children traveled by train from the east coast to seek new homes in nearly every state in the continental united states. Orphan trains in kansas in the mid 19th century as new york city streets continued to grow with immigrants working to make ends meet, the population of homeless youth soared to approximately 30,000. The new york childrens aid society and the orphan trains era by.
Photos, books, and quotes about the orphan train are here. Orphan trains that brought homeless nyc children to work on farms duration. Holt carefully analyzes the system, initially instituted by the new york children s aid society in 1853, tracking its imitators as well as the reasons for its creation and demise. They were part of what is now known as the orphan train. Children s aid society images this site on flickr highlights a selection of images from the historical records of the children s aid society. Here s a list of books to learn more about the orphan trains. Basically, there were two main institutions responsible for this mass emigration of children from new york. Children were placed on orphan trains that stopped at more than 45 states across the country, as well as canada and mexico. Newyork historical society childrens aid society images. In midnineteenthcentury new york, vagrant youth, both orphans and. But though many children did ride to better lives on orphan trains, others did not. New york, orphans placed in the new york foundling hospital. We rode the orphan trains by andrea warren goodreads. The next 6 volumes include selfpublished accounts or scrapbooks by former orphan train riders and other volumes exploring the subject arranged alphabetically by author or editor.
Orphan trains and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. An index to its federal, state and local census records 18701925, by carolee r. Orphans return to a city they left on sad trains the new. Most research on the early years of the childrens aid society and the orphan train can begin with charles loring braces book the dangerous classes of new york. The childrens aid society national orphan train complex. With the creation of the childrens aid society in 1853, he provided homeless youngsters with shelter, education, and, for many, a new family out west. Please see the south bend area genealogical society quarterly january 2016 and april 2016 issues for additional historical background.
Charles loring brace, a connecticut minister was appalled at the misery of orphaned and abandoned children living in deplorable conditions on the streets of new york city. The city was at a loss to solve this problem until the childrens aid society and the new york foundling hospital conjured up a unique plan that. Brace proposed a radical solution to the problem by creating the childrens aid society, an organization that fought to. This placing out, an attempt to find homes for the urban poor, was best known by the orphan trains that carried the children. In 1853, charles loring brace and a group of businessmen formed a new organization to help care for the neglected children of new york city. See more ideas about orphan train, orphan and train. Dec, 2018 when the orphan train movement began, it was estimated that 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of new york city. The orphan train and the children who rode them new england. Orphan train bibliography dowagiac area history museum. The genealogy of many of these 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children can often be traced back to the children s aid society, or the new york foundling hospital, among others. Guide to the records of the childrens aid society 1836. About new york, orphans placed in the new york foundling hospital and children s aid society, 18551925 between 1853 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 poor, abandoned and orphaned children were shipped from new york city orphanages to western families for adoption. Charles loring brace founded the childrens aid society in order to help these children. Isbn 9780615297552 good boy little orphan at the train, a norman rockwell painting.
Charles loring brace, who founded the childrens aid society of new york, in an effort to take in the thousands of homeless and severely neglected children in new york. Although it had its pitfalls, orphan trains and other childrens aid initiatives led to a host of child welfare reforms, including child labor laws, adoption, and the establishment of foster care services. This book illustrates that effect by looking at the fates of orphan train riders in aggregate, and by telling the stories of particular children. Charles brace, who was born june 19, 1826, in litchfield, connecticut, attended yale and studied theology. The children were sent in groups of twentyfive to 100 on trains, making stops along the way where they might be chosen by some family who wanted a child or needed extra help. Both are still active today in 1996 helping children. Published march 23rd 2004 by hmh books for young readers first published. The new association, the new york childrens aid society, provided care for these. Ayler were among more than 100,000 orphaned or abandoned children from new york who were sent west by the children s aid society and the new york foundling hospital as. I am looking for information on children that were adopted from the orphan trains by grimes county families. Orphan train name index south bend area genealogical society. The story of charles loring brace and the children. Although it had its pitfalls, orphan trains and other children s aid initiatives led to a host of child welfare reforms, including child labor laws, adoption, and the establishment of foster care services.
Those institutions are the children s aid society, and the new york foundling hospital. Smith and several hundred other orphan train children, all elderly, from minnesota to texas, will attend their first gathering in new york, a fourday meeting at the penta. The orphan trains and newsboys of new york, and last train home. The 35 children who gathered at new york s childrens aid society in 1880 all had. At the heart of the book are the tales of the orphan train children. It began around 1850 and ran for nearly eighty years. This site on flickr highlights a selection of images from the historical records of the children s aid society. In 1929, the childrens aid societys last orphan train left new york. We have also found information on orphan trains to elkhart county sponsored by the new york childrens aid society and bostons baldwin place missionhome for little wanders. The purpose was to find families that would take in children in a freehomeplacingout program instituted by the childrens aid society of new york city, new york. Between 1854 and 1929, up to 200,000 children were placed on the trains and adopted by new families.
As an adult, winefred lorraine williams learned that she was placed in a new york city orphanage soon after her birth in 1922. The orphan trains and newsboys of new york by renee wendinger, an unabridged nonfiction resource book and pictorial history about the orphan trains. Orphan train research helps find foster children between 1853 and 1930 who rode trains from new york city, boston, or chicago to new homes in other states or canada. This period of mass relocation of children in the united states is widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in america. An index to the federal, state and local census records of its lodging houses 18551925, by carolee r. In an account of the trip published by the childrens aid society, smith said that in order to get a child, applicants had to have recommendations from their pastor and a justice of the peace, but it is unlikely that this requirement was strictly enforced. Charles loring brace conceptualized the emigration plan to resettle poor and orphaned children living in new york city with farm families in the west to deter. Tracing the evolution of the childrens aid society, this dramatic narrative tells the fascinating tale of one of the most famous and sometimes infamous child welfare programs. Request current prices of 144minute orphan train video, and a list of books and items. The national orphan train complex in concordia, ks is a museum and research center dedicated to the orphan train movement, the various institutions that participated, and the children and agents who rode the trains. Mary ellen pollock was herself a rider on the orphan train. There are also many wellwritten fiction books about the orphan train. Oct 31, 2019 from 1860 to 1930, over 200,000 children were sent from new york city to the midwestern farms on the orphan trains that the children s aid society organized.