The Orphan Train

The Orphan Train

From 1854 to 1929, hundreds of thousands of young children boarded trains in New York City, to be shipped west where they would find new families. Known as the Orphan Train, the program to relocate orphaned and abandoned children was operated largely by The Children's Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital.

This month, events at both ends of the Orphan Train route commemorate the relocation program. In Minnesota's Union Depot, a multimedia performance in early October presented historical fiction, interviews, images and music about the Orphan Trains. In New York's Grand Central Station,"Orphan Train, The Musical" directed by Patricia Birch will be performed on Oct. 11 and 12. Birch plans to travel across the country with the musical, performing at stops along the route to raise awareness for issues related to current-day foster care, early education and other youth issues.

Read on to see historical images from the exhibit in St. Paul and from the book, "Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York,"by Minnesota historian and author Renee Wendinger, whose mother was one of the children shipped west on an Orphan Train.

Credit: Courtesy The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York