The Orphan Trains

The Orphan Trains

This image I have chosen shows boys ages 6-18 traveling on a train with their heads out the window. This train was known as the Orphan Train. In the 1850’s an estimated 30,000 children were homeless or neglected in New York City. The founder, Charles Loring Brace, of “The Children’s Aid Society,” proposed the idea that these children be sent by train to live and work on farms out west while being housed for free. The founder believed by removing them from the street and placing them in a farm family would give them a better chance of escaping a lifetime of suffering. The Orphan Train Movement lasted from 1853 until the early 1900’s and more than 120,000 children were placed.

The Children's Aid Society

http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/about/history/orphan-trains

October 22, 2015

Erin Donlon

1853- early 1900's