Orphan Trains: Teaching about an Early Twentieth-Century Social Experiment

Between 1854 and 1930, over 200,000 children left New York City, as well as other major east coast cities, bound for families in rural areas. They traveled to towns in New England, the Midwest, the South, and even as far west as Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington. These orphans were the children of immigrant families who were pouring into the United States in search of a better life. Many of these children were abandoned, or their parents had died and they were left to fend for themselves. To address this growing social problem, the process of placing out, or Orphan Trains, was developed by Charles Loring Brace, the director of the Children's Aid Society in New York City. This article summarizes the implementation of the placing-out process, including the social conditions, the underlying philosophy, the basic components, and the public perceptions. A lesson plan, teaching strategies, and materials are provided for teachers who want to explore this social practice when studying the rise of industrialization, immigration, and social change during the beginning of the twentieth century in American History.