Orphan Train refers to programs that, between the 1850’s and 1920’s, sent homeless or neglected children to live with American farm families. More than 200,000 children moved to new homes as a result of the programs. Historians regard the Orphan Train movement as a forerunner of adoption and foster care programs in the United States.
In 1853, Charles Loring Brace , a young minister in New York City , helped to create a group called the Children’s Aid Society. Brace had taken notice of homeless children in the city, many of whom sold items on the street or formed gangs for protection. Many children had difficult experiences in orphanages and other institutions. Brace believed that poor and homeless children would be better served by being paired with farm families. Such families could provide for the children’s basic needs and show the benefits of hard work. At the same time, the families could benefit from the labor the children contributed.
The Children’s Aid Society raised funds and obtained legal permission to relocate neglected children from the northeastern United States. Starting in 1854, the society’s “orphan trains” brought New York City children to new homes mainly in the Midwest and West. A number of other organizations carried out similar efforts. Families often took in the children following a short introduction or interview conducted at the station. Few rules were in place for the children’s placement in their new homes.
Many of the children in the Orphan Train programs were adopted by their new families. Many others were reunited with their birth families after periods of hardship had passed. The last “orphan trains” operated about 1929. By the mid-1900’s, adoptive or foster families had replaced orphanages as the preferred options for the care of children in need.
