The Orphan Train Movement

[TeenHelp]

The Orphan Train Movement
Jenna (~Abibliophobe~)

Between 1854 and 1929, The Orphan Train Movement carried about 250,000 homeless children by train from places such as Boston and New York City to other states within the United States as well as Canada. The trains were not always a luxury, depending on the time in which they were ridden. The very first trains were nothing more than cattle cars with some seats and a bathroom. However, as more money was available, the trains got better and the children were able to ride in Pullman cars, which were basically sleeping cars.

A big reason for the Orphan Train Movement was due to the number of immigrants that entered the United States between 1841 and 1860. These people came to the United States and worked in jobs that didn’t pay a lot. They also lived in houses that housed ten other people. Since the living conditions were poor, this led to diseases spreading and as a result many parents died prematurely. Also, orphanages were built to house as many children as possible and parents could pay for the care on a weekly or monthly schedule. If they did not pay on time the children ended up becoming a ward of the court and that left social workers to dispose of the children as they felt was best. All these factors led to about 30,000 homeless children in New York.

The person that started the Orphan Train Movement was Charles Loring Brace. He was a Presbyterian minister who came to New York City to proselytize the poor. Brace wanted to reach out to the young because he felt they could be converted a lot easier than the older generation. His early outreach consisted of Boys Meetings during which the young boys received food and Bible instruction. However, Brace soon realized that this wasn’t really helping and that more needed to be done. The solution that he came up with was that these children needed to be put to work. He stated that “There is no doubt that a lad with a trade feels a peculiar independence of the world, and is much less likely to take up dishonest means of living.” [Source] He felt that these children needed to be placed in country towns where there was a demand for labor. So, in 1853, he established the Children’s Aid Society which coordinated the departure of children by trains.

There was a lot of debate about the Orphan Train Movement. The movement initially took place prior to the Civil War and a lot of abolitionists were upset about this movement because a number of the children were not being placed in houses where they were cared for but were instead being indentured. In a nutshell they were not being adopted but were being used solely for labor which was viewed as an extension of slavery. While the demand for children was based a lot on the need for labor, the Children’s Aid Society still did what they could to make sure that the children were treated well. If a family wanted to take a child they had to be endorsed by a committee of local business owners, doctors and journalists. Some of the terms included things like the children needing to be sent to school and the Children’s Aid Society would check on each child once a year. The children were also expected to write a letter to the society twice a year. However, when the children would get off the trains to find families they would be inspected like animals such as having their teeth checked as well as their muscles which was very dehumanizing.

There were a lot of hardships associated with the movement and most of them were considered emotional. For example, one person recounted how his new ‘family’ did not speak the language and so their own son had to interpret for them. The son took advantage of this barrier and made the indentured boy responsible for all of the chores. The boy recounted how he did not feel as though he fit in. There are other stories of children being separated from their siblings and not being sure of their own origin. However, not all the children had bad experiences. Some were taken in and felt loved and have a great respect for their adopted family. An example of this comes from Stanley Cornell who was placed on a farm. He was expected to work rather hard but he was clothed, fed and loved by the family. He has always been grateful for what they did for him.

The Orphan Train Movement came to a close in 1929 due to a number of different road blocks but one of the biggest was due to all the state legislature that had been passed to forbid the transport of children across state lines. However, the success of the Orphan Trains as well as other Children’s Aid initiatives ended up leading to a number of different child welfare reforms. Some of these included child labor laws, adoption and the establishment of foster care, public education and some provisions for healthcare, school lunches and vocational training.

Sources:
Lost Children: Riders on the Orphan Train | Humanities
The Orphan Trains | The Children's Aid Society
Orphan Trains in Context: History, Culture, and Law | Marmalad
He rode the 'Orphan Train' across the country - CNN.com