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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHistory of "orphan train"}-- Wednesday, June 26, 2019 History of orphan train to be shared By JENNY TWITCHELL jenny.twitchell@theeagle.com When New York City was overwhelmed with orphans and unwanted children during the 1800s and early 1900s, a minister initiated a massive child migration that sent them away on trains. Little is known about this part of U.S. his- tory, but a free program at the Hearne Depot Museum at 7 p.m. Thursday is trying to change that. The presentation, "Riders on the Orphan Train," com- bines live music, storytelling and a video montage about the250,000 orphans who rode passenger trains to find new homes in every state of the continental United States from 1854 to 1929. At the time, the program was called the "placing - out system." Farmers and shopkeepers would go to train stations to inspect children and decide if they would be a good fit for their families or businesses. See. TRAIN, Page A3 The Eagle . theeagle.com News TRAIN: 5,000 children adopted in Texas alone Continued from Al Presented by the Nation- al Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center, based in Concor- dia, Kansas, the program is made possible at the Hearne Depot Museum by a mini -grant from Humani- ties Texas and by the pre- senters, Alison Moore and Phil Lancaster. Bob Batson, co -curator of the Hearne Depot Museum with his wife, Jan, said al- though they are both well versed in Texas history, they had never heard of the Or- phan Train until recently. "There were seven chil- dren adopted in Robertson County, and about 5,000 ad- opted in Texas, so we think it would be quite interesting for people to learn about it, Bob Batson said. Although the term "unwanted" was used dur- ing the time of the migra- tion, it wasn't that all of them wereunwanted or orphaned, but that their families had no way to provide for the chil- dren, Jan Batson added. "A lot came from im- migrant families who ha come to the United State but didn't have any sup- port from family, and the couldn't take care of thei children anymore, so the would end up running th streets of New York or a the Children Aid Society, she said. The Civil War and Worl War I also had taken th lives of many men, leavin families destitute, Jan Ba son said. Because there w no foster program, this w the beginning of placin children with other fam lies in the United States. "The reason it stopp in 1929 is when the fed go ernment passed the la that children could not moved across state lines she said. The hour -and -a -half pr I d s y r y e d t gram tells the successes and failures of the Ameri- can dream, shows a video montage of archival pho- tographs and interviews of survivors. It also tells the story of the Methodist min- ister Charles Loring Brace, who started the placement system and the Children's Aid Society of New York, Jan said. "It's a very interesting and educational program of something our history has not covered; they do a good job with songs and videos of some of the chil- dren," Bob Batson said. Musical and storytelling presentations by Moore and Lancaster bring the presen- tation to life, he added. Moore, a former assistant professor in the MFA Cre- ative Writing Program at the University of Arizona and a current Humanities Scholar in Texas, complet- ed the historical novel Rid- ers on the Orphan Train. Lancaster, who was born in Texarkana, studied art and music at L'Ecole De Beaux Arts in France and is now a member of a blue- grass band, Still on the Hill, which has released two al- bums and has performed at national and interna- tional festivals. In 2007, he received an Arkansas Arts Council fellowship for Mu- t sic Composition. " In 2012, both Lancaster and Moore received the Charles Loring Brace e Award for helping to pre- g serve the stories of Orphan - Train Riders. as Local relatives and ac- as quaintances of Orphan g Train Riders are invited i- to attend and share their stories with the audience ed during the presentation on v- Thursday. w For more information, visit www.ridersonthe- orphantrain.org or call Bob or Jane Batson at 806- o- 790-4659.