The Orphan Train: America’s Forgotten Children

Imagine being a child on the freezing streets of 19th century New York. Your mother is dead and your father, too poor to feed you and your baby sister, sends you out to survive on your own. Cold, hungry, and terrified, you stumble into an alley where other abandoned children huddle for warmth. They teach you their ways, but survival is brief. You’re caught, thrown in jail, and before you know it, you're told you're going on a train ride to a "better life"—far from the only family you have left. This is the story of the Orphan Train—a journey of hope, despair, and the complex legacy of America’s first child welfare experiment. The 2 episodes I mentioned at the end of the episode:https://www.buzzsprout.com/2172641/15047209https://www.buzzsprout.com/2172641/15003607 Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro + Personal love for this story1:22 - Mass Immigration 2:54 - Why so many Orphans?5:35 - Orphanage Problems 7:00 - News Boys + Public Punishments9:43  - Charles Loring Brace 11:53 - Early Life - Charles Loring Brace 13:20 - Brace’s Ideas:16:20 - Placing Out + The Orphan Trains17:40 - How They did it19:10 - New York Foundling Hospital21:37 - How CAS found prospective parents22:54 - How the Foundling Hospital was different24:35 - CAS Process for placing out 26:08 - Mary Ellen Wilson28:06 - Lee’s Story32:47 - Various Experiences of the Riders 40:00 - Lasting Effects + Changed Laws42:48 - Train Rider Reunions43:50 - Did your Ancestors Riding the Orphan Train?SOURCES:https://www.notesfromthefrontier.com/post/the-heartbreaking-tale-of-orphan-trains HOW to find Orphan Train Riders: https://orphantraindepot.org/research-and-registration/genealogical-research-resources/#:~:text=Ellis Island Passenger Database – Many,search, but it is free https://www.statueofliberty.org/discover/passenger-ship-search/  Lee Nailling Book I mentioned: Orphan Train Rider by Andrea Warren  https://orphantraindepot.org/history/orphan-train-rider-stories/lee-nailling/ https://www.byuradio.org/752c6160-abab-451b-b6ac-9a1218f3c3b3/the-apple-seed-lee-nailings-orphan-train-story-by-pippa-whitehttps://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/child-welfarechild-labor/orphan-trains/ https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/11/orphan-trains-and-childrens-aid-the-compassion-of-charles-loring-brace/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyXiz_4HQIo Don’t miss watching this presentation from the grandson of a train rider - it is BEAUTIFUL! https://www.pbs.org/video/university-place-brave-journey-orphan-train-rider/ https://library.cityvision.edu/charles-loring-brace  https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2017/winter/feature/reading-charles-darwin-utterly-changed-how-charles-lSupport the show