The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853 to find better homes for abandoned, homeless, and impoverished youth. They transported children to rural families via railways, known as the “Orphan Train.” While some children were given wonderful homes, others suffered neglect and abuse. The program operated from 1854 to 1929, moving nearly 200,000 children and is considered the grandfather of the modern foster care system in the US.
Desperate and impoverished times affect all but none as much as the younger members of society who are unable to fend for themselves. It is often during times of crisis that charities and organizations dedicated to promoting change are founded. In the mid-19th century, immigration was at an all-time high, and the eastern port cities of the United States became busier than ever, leading to a job shortage and financial instability for many families. In the 19th, a mass relocation of abandoned, homeless and impoverished youth began under the leadership of the Children’s Aid Society, which hoped to find better homes for the children.
The Children’s Aid Society was founded in 1853 by a minister named Charles Loring Brace. A native of Connecticut, Brace was working in poorer areas of New York City when he noticed the poor quality of life for children who were orphans, impoverished immigrant children, or otherwise living on the streets. His solution was to give urban children in need to rural families, who would then raise them as their own in exchange for help with family farms and businesses. In addition to the Children’s Aid Society, a religious orphanage, the New York Foundling Hospital, he has worked to find better homes for out-of-town children.
The preferred method of transporting these orphans was the newly built railway system. Railroads provided the cheapest and most efficient way to transport children to their prospective families throughout the United States. For this reason, the movement has been called the “Orphan Train,” which is a misnomer since many of the children were not orphans. The children would board the trains, accompanied by an agent whose job it was to look after their well-being and place them in decent homes. The orphan train would make scheduled stops and the children would be led off the train and checked on by their prospective families.
It was impossible to tell whether orphan train children were actually treated by the terms of the contract that was required for adoption. This was especially true as the children were often placed far away from the sponsoring organisation. While many of the train’s orphaned children were given wonderful homes, there were still cases of neglect and abuse, leading many orphaned children to run away.
During its years of operation between 1854 and 1929, nearly 200,000 children were moved across the country and adopted by orphan trains. Several well-known public figures were orphaned children of the train, including former Governor John Green Brady of Alaska and former North Dakota Governor Andrew H. Burke. Henry McCarty, who was sometimes called William Bonney, and is more popularly known as Billy the Kid, was also a child placed on the Orphan Train program. Today, the Orphan Train program is largely considered the grandfather of the modern foster care system in the United States.
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