Product Description

Product Description
A chronicle of a little-known event in American history describes how, from 1854 to 1929, the Children's Aid Society sent orphaned city children West to free them from crime and poverty, showing how these children lived in their new surroundings. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Interesting but mainly negative
This book is a quite interesting historical account of the orphan trains. However, O'Connor, the author, uses modern day standards to judge the people of another era. Charles Loring Brace was a man who saw a problem and tried to cure it. Yes, there were racial inequities and girls were not treated the same as boys were. It was the Victorian era. Some of his ideas did not work, and in time better ways of handling children in need of homes were found. But someone had to start somewhere! Children are certainly better off in real homes than they are in orphanages or asylums. Brace's work was the beginning of the foster care system.

Also, O'Connor has a clear political agenda. For instance, on page 236, he says, "...the law's advocates -- like many on the right today, believed that poverty was a prima facie disqualification for parenthood..." Who are these evil people on the right who hate poor people? He offers no footnote to back up that sweeping accusation. Also, I got tired of the negative remarks about Brace's religion. On page 285, he comments on Brace's final book, "about humankind's long march through ignorance to the "truth" of Christ". By placing the word "Truth" in quotes (and not the entire sentence) he is mocking Brace's beliefs.

I would recommend the book. But it would have been nice if O'Connor had had a little more respect for the man he wrote about.

Orphan trains
Charles Loring Brace's story, his life, his work, his failures and accomplishments on caring for orphaned and abandoned children.
Extremely interesting and well-written story that brings both information, insights and ways to understand the paths of welfare in USA.

The origins of the American child welfare system
There've been plenty of books published selecting Orphan Train children as the protagonists, but relatively few stand-alone volumes consider the origins and social implications of the American child welfare system which emerged in mid-19th century New York to handle to dearth of orphans and runaways on the New York City streets. One man's vision of rescue became the famous Orphan Trains program, and Stephen O'Connor's history and biography focus on one Christian minister Charles Loring Brace, the man who created the Children's Aid Society to handle these children more humanely.

Author Has Wrong View of Foster Care
In this book, Mr. O'Connor describes how Charles Loring Brace started the orphan trains, which was the beginning of modern foster care. But Mr. O'Connor has also done nothing more than attempt to turn people OFF to the foster care system! Every other page is filled with the "failures", and the kids that did not enjoy their new homes. Rarely does he describe the successes, the times that foster care has truly helped.

Stephan O'Connor devoted ONE chaper to TWO boys who rode the same orphan train, who later went on to become mayors of Alsaka and N. Dakota. He talked mainly about the mayor of alaska, and harly any about the other one. Even then, he described the "tough life" that Brady faced, making it sound like he hated his homes.Yet this author wrote a FULL chapter on a SINGLE boy who grew up to become a murderer.

Also, in the end, when showing where foster care has progressed to, Mr. O'Connor chose almost all horrer stories and no successes!! As a "product" of the foster care system (3 1/2 years under the rule of the Division of Youth and Family Services) I can say that yes, it isnt perfect, but it DID save me from a lot of mistakes and trouble, and has even STRENGTHENED my relationship with my birth family! Anyone reading this book without background information will be completely turned off to the idea of foster care.

An interesting and important book.
Some people say you can judge a society by how it treats its weakest members, and if that is true the United States has repeatedly failed the test. When it comes to dealing with the most vulnerable people among us Ñ children whose families can not or will not take care of them Ñ over and over we turn our backs on horrible examples of abuse and neglect.

After reading Orphan Trains, which deals with the origins of the foster care system in the mid-nineteenth century, the first attempts to deal with the problems of children without families, rather than dealing with the problems (primarily crime) that such children created for society, IÕm struck by the fact that this failure is far from a new thing.

Charles Loring Brace, the founder of the ChildrenÕs Aid Society, which found homes for orphans, runaways, and children who had essentially been abandoned by their families, was both an intelligent and a well-intentioned man. Fighting the prejudice of his time, he argued that homeless children were not criminals and threats to society, but potentially upstanding citizens. All they needed was the love and attention of a family. A noble sentiment, but unfortunately Brace mixed it with another noble, but tragically wrong, sentiment. He believed that all middle class families, especially farm families, were good. So he put New York children on trains headed west to be taken in by just about any family that would have them. Many children were adopted by wonderful, caring families, but others ended up as virtual slave labor. Girls were often subject to sexual abuse.

In hindsight, it is easy for us to see the flaws in BraceÕs thinking. But in a fascinating final chapter, Stephen OÕConnor points out that we are making many of the same mistakes today because, like Brace, we donÕt see children who need families as unique individuals. We argue abstractly about whether it is better for a child to stay in a flawed family or be removed to a foster family, when the truth is that there are thousands of factors to take into consideration in each case (of course taking those factors into consideration would require well-trained social workers with small caseloads Ñ which we are unwilling to pay for). We argue about whether a child ought to be placed in a family of his race or ethnic group, or whether any good family is better than none, when the truth is that it depends on the child. Some children feel out of place if they are not in families that look like them; for other children race or ethnicity makes little difference. But to get children to the right place, we need to invest time, and time is expensive.

Whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first, good intentions and theories about what is best for children donÕt take the place of seeing children as individuals. As a society, we need to decide if we care enough about children to pay for the time and attention they need.

Orphan Trains has a complex and fascinating story to tell and makes a great contribution to an important national issue. ... Read more

Product Description
Temperance organizations such as the American Female Guardian Society stepped in, establishing orphanages and homes for unwed mothers and battered women: "homes for the friendless." Some of the children in the homes were orphans, but some were "surrendered" by parents who were unable to take care of them. Nearly 250,000 of these children were fostered out to families across the United States via the "orphan trains." Recently several Orphan Train Rider organizations have been formed, providing opportunities for the riders to reunite with family and loved ones, and to seek sources that provide clues to their roots. This book contains valuable entrance records from several of the surrender books of the AFGS Home for the Friendless in New York. Volunteers from the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America painstakingly indexed the surrender books, which had been left to the Rockland County Historical Society. Perhaps these records hold the key to your past! The Orleans County Genealogical Society held an Orphan Train Reenactment in Medina, New York, in 2004. Photos of that event illustrate the emotional journey of the Orphan Train Riders. ... Read more

Product Description
'From 1850 to 1930 America witnessed a unique emigration and resettlement of at least 200,000 children and several thousand adults, primarily from the East Coast to the West. This 'placing out', an attempt to find homes for the urban poor, was best known by the 'orphan trains' that carried the children. Holt carefully analyzes the system, initially instituted by the New York Children's Aid Society in 1853, tracking its imitators as well as the reasons for its creation and demise. She captures the children's perspective with the judicious use of oral histories, institutional records, and newspaper accounts. This well-written volume sheds new light on the multifaceted experience of children's immigration, changing concepts of welfare, and Western expansion. It is good, scholarly social history' - "Library Journal". 'Soon there will be no memories of the 'little companies', as they were called, of children setting out with an adult leader for a new life. This little book is kind of a preservation movement, and a contribution to our understanding of how the West was won' - David Shribman, "Wall Street Journal".'As a portrait of the time's charitable networks, "The Orphan Trains" succeeds...Holt's work brings to light a meaningful concept: the idea that charity; then and now, is sometimes tinged with greed, indifference, hostility, self-promotion and is an institution that can serve the giver more than the receiver' - David James Rose, "Washington Times". Marilyn Irvin Holt, former director of publications at the Kansas State Historical Society; is a freelance editor, writer, and researcher and teaches historical editing at the University of Kansas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

interesting history, more of a textbook
This is another interesting book about a sad part of our history. It just doesn't tell about the Orphan trains, it also explains the attitudes about childhood, poverty and society at that time.It reads more like a textbook though, I felt I should be highlighting topics for class.

Orphan Trains is a Fascinating Account
The Orphan Trains, by Marilyn Irvin Holt, is simply excellent. The book is extremely well-written and absolutely riveting. Holt carefully documents her work.

I particularly enjoyed the author's discussion of how child rearing views were changing during this time in American history. It was fascinating to read because it clearly paves the way for why the "placing out" of these children was seen as such an excellent idea. Shipping these children off to other parts of the country seemed completely justifiable when one considers the alternative facing these children. Indeed, the idea of "placing out" isn't so bad considering what happens to so many young children now raised in poverty in the ghettos of this nation.

The United States was not the first country to come up with the idea of placing out. Holt points out that other countries also used this idea for "getting rid" of the impoverished. In this country, however, placing out definitely was a movement that started with well meaning motives. The idea was to salvage these often abandoned, neglected impoverished children and send them to good homes in the West where, coincidentally, their labor was also often needed.

Holt's discussion of this event is just extremely well presented. She is factual and not judgmental. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in societal changes. From this episode in history came the beginnings of social work. It also raises interesting questions about how children are dealt with nowadays where they are often left with birth parents to the extreme detriment of the child. It makes placing out seem rather desirable.

Excellent Reference Book!
This, in my opinion, is the best reference book on the Orphan Train Movement of 1854-1929 that is available.As the granddaughter of a rider and author of 2 books on the subject, I am often asked to speak on the topic locally.I have used this book extensively in my research on this period of history.I am especially pleased that the author puts the events of the orphan train movement in context of what was going on in our country during this time allowing the reader to gain a better understanding of how and why this could have happened and why it came to an end after 75 years.Highly recommended!

An Excellent Resource!
From 1853 to about 1929, more than 200,000 children and several thousand adults were sent west on "orphan trains," leaving crowded urban areas on the East Coast behind. Holt's book focuses on the placing outsystem--from its creation to its demise--instituted by the Children's AidSociety of New York. Estimates of the number of destitute children livingin the streets of New York in 1853 ranged from 10,000 to more than 30,000.Charles Loring Brace, who became secretary of The Children's Aid Societybelieved there was no better place for vagrant or outcast children than"the farmer's home." Placing out removed destitute children fromthe streets of New York City, placing them with families in the west. Thesystem was intended to provide Christian homes and families for orphaned orabandoned children while fulfilling the demand for workers on farms inAmerica's heartland. The author also discusses other charitableorganizations that imitated Children's Aid Society initiatives. She usesoral histories, institutional records, and newspaper accounts to bring theorphan train era to life in this balanced account, highlighting both thepositive and negative aspects of the placing out system. Her discussion ofsocial and economic structures of the 19th century help readers view thetopic in context. This is a "must read" for anyone conductingfurther research in the topic, or readers who are simply interested in thislost chapter of American history. ... Read more

Product Description
We are a Part of History: the Story of the Orphan Trainsanalyzes the history of Charles Loring Brace's placing out system, a system that brought 1000's of New York City orphans west by train and eventually led to the foster care system found in most states today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Well Researched Book
Of all the books on the Orphan Trains, "We Are a Part of History: the Story of the Orphan Trains" is the best researched. Michael Patrick and Evelyn Trickel have used primary resources from the Children's Aid Society files, letters from orphans and their families, and interviews with survivors of the Orphan Train experience. The book also contains photographs that have never been published before. Additionally, they have carefully examined previously published material to give the reader a complete picture of what the Orphan Trains were and how they affected those who rode, the adults who took them in, and all of us as Americans.

Interesting Read
The Story of the Orphan Trains is a carefully researched historical record of the "orphan trains" that carried thousands of homeless children from the slums of New York to new lives with families in theMidwest and South. The trains, which ran from 1854 until 1929, wereprimarily the work of Reverend Charles Loring Brace and the Children's AidSociety, funded by citizens and companies who were concerned about thedesperate lives of the "street arabs", the children who struggledto bring themselves up and survive on the city streets.

The book gives athoughtful, fair account of both the benefits and pitfalls of the orphantrain solutions. Many children, who might have otherwise perished on thestreets, were given life and hope with new, loving families. Other childrennever got over the trauma of being separated from siblings, or they weremoved into homes where they were badly treated (although the Society agentsworked hard to prevent these tragedies).

The Story of the Orphan Trainsis not a gripping read, but it is not intended to be. Those who areinterested in this period of history, or in solutions to the problem ofhomeless children, will find it fair and thought-provoking. I found thelast section of the book, accounts by the orphans themselves, to beespecially moving. ... Read more

Product Description
During the Orphan Trains Era, 1854 until 1929, an estimated 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children and families were relocated from major metropolitan east coast cities to new homes in the "west" traveling aboard trains. Children relocated via ... Read more

Product Description
Stories of some of the orphans "placed out" from Eastern cities, mostly into the American heartland--who they were, why they went, and what happened to them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Orphan Trains : Leaving the cities behind
I purchased this book for a friend ( a retired teacher).The book arrived in pristine condition and in a timely manner. My friend is using this book as a resource for her research into the subject and was thrilled with it's condition.She's happy, I'm happy.THANK YOU! ... Read more

Product Description
This heartfelt story begins on the streets of New York City in 1854 where thousands of homeless children, immigrants and natives are fighting to survive "just one more day". Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children's Aid Society, made a plan to rescue the children by getting them out of the city to loving rural homes in America's growing Midwest. The first location to accept these homeless children is Dowagiac, Michigan, a railroad whistle-stop on the track-line to Chicago.You will experience the hope, fear and exciement as you travel with Jack, Sarah, little George and 42 other orphans on their way to new faraway homes and better lives. Traveling by train across New York state, crossing Lake Erie by steamship and then on to Detroit to board another train, these children cling to one another for safety and survival trying hard to keep themselves together and clean in their filthy flea-ridden travel conditions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Meet heroes of modern history
Mary Ellen Johnson is the founder and executive director of the Orphan Train Herigage Society of America. She's also known as "the orphan train lady." This volume is an excellent outgrowth of her interest inthe 75-year orphan train era in American history. It is filled withaccounts of orphan train riders, written by riders themselves or theirdescendants. The stories illustrate the wide range of riders' experiences.Some were orphans. Some were abandoned. Other children who rode orphantrains had parents who could not support them and gave them up hopingthey'd have better lives. Some accounts describe finding loving families,while others were overworked or suffered abuse. Orphan train ridersovercame incredible odds and emerged as heroes of modern history. Read thisbook to learn more about them. ... Read more

Product Description
By the mid-1800s, the street corners of New York City were home to several thousand homeless, abandoned and orphaned children. These poor unfortunates were often the sons and daughters of newly arrived immigrants, separated from their parents or relatives in the confusion and chaos of Ellis Island and forced by circumstance to fend for themselves. Although some found refuge in orphanages and sanitariums, these facilities were inadequate in number and often lacked the resources to provide for more than a handful at a time. Those that remained on the street frequently turned to theft and burglary, or even prostitution as a means of survival, thus compounding the city’s already rampant crime problem. Clearly a solution was needed for the good of both New York City and its orphan population.

Relief came with the establishment of the Children’s Aid Society in 1853 by one Charles Loring Brace. Brace was a theologian and a reformer who’s answer to New York’s orphan problem was a practice known simply as “placing out.” The society would gather likely orphans and send them west by train in groups of anywhere from six to one hundred individuals, stopping at predetermined destinations where it was known foster homes were available. The American West was at this time in critical need of laborers in both agriculture and industry, and many families were eager to provide a foster home to a child who was willing to work. Children would be periodically checked on by an agent of the society and were required to write the society at least twice a year describing their experiences. As with any foster care system, placing out could be a hit-or-miss affair¾many children would bounce from home to home and some were returned to New York as undesirables. There were many success stories however, with orphans finding supportive homes and loving foster families. Some were actually adopted into the families with which they were placed. All faced the challenge of a new life in unfamiliar surroundings, without the comfort of friends, and relatives left behind.

The orphan trains of the Children’s Aid Society ran until 1929.This text presents a brief history of the phenomena and the intriguing account of one of its agents the Rev. Mr. Herman Clarke. He entered the employ of the Society in 1900, and was a tireless devotee of the children entrusted to his care. His ministry was in Dodge Center, MN, and he was later placed in charge of Children’s Homes in Cincinnati, OH and Battle Creek, MI. Over the years he traveled thousands of miles on the rails with his orphan charges, and received as many as two-thousand letters a year from them. In the twilight of life, the reverend began to compile scrapbooks for his grandchildren detailing both the family’s genealogy and his years spent working with the society. Six out of the seven scrapbooks have been discovered by the author and they form the basis of this history which is told primarily in the words of Rev. Clarke and his orphans. The text is enriched by numerous photographs of orphans and their foster families, as well as facsimiles of advertisements published by the society, and a special section of orphan train poetry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

GREAT reference for Orphan Train research!
This is an extremely resourceful book for anyone who wants to learn about or better understand the Orphan Train era of American history.Reading the journals and seeing the photos from Rev. Clarke who was a placing agent during this time, will give the reader great insight into how this movement came to be and why it was sustained for so many years.As the granddaughter of an orphan train rider, I was pleased to read of Rev. Clarke's genuine concern for the children he placed and the value he put on each little life.

A Researchers Paradise
Clark Kidder documents Rev. Clarke's regions of operation--Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri. The journals and notes of Rev. Clarke show his great caring and concern for these orphan children. In some cases, there are personal notes from the children he placed.
Ever wonder why so many children went to Hopkinton, Ia. when the area could not support them? Rev. Clarke's journals and notes reveal information on at least 80 of these mystery children. There are over 400 children listed in these pages.

These pages document the placement history of these children. They reveal how many times, the same children would have to be moved before a suitable home could be found for them, and why the same children appear on more than one state's lists. It documents how sometimes children would be picked up locally and transported further down the line. Kidder points out how sometimes the children would wander away from the trains to disappear forever.
No orphan train research is complete without reading this facinating book.

A tie in the railway of history.
Two hundred thousand children were placed through the
train project. What a monumental impact on American history that is! It is astounding that this knowledge is not part of the commonly known events that shaped our nation. I hope the first person reports of Rev. Clarke found in this compilation will correct some of that void in history.

A tie in the railway of history.
Two hundred thousand children were placed through the
train project. What a monumental impact on American history that is! It is astounding that this knowledge is not part of the commonly known events that shaped our nation. I hope the first person reports of Rev. Clarke found in this compilation will correct some of that void in history.

An Exceptional Book!
I found Mr. Kidder's book to be fascinating. The photos of the dozens of little orphans are so endearing, and the stories of their trials and triumphs are immensely entertaining. Rev. H. D. Clarke was truly a remarkable individual. You'll find this book impossible to put down after you begin reading it. The balance of the book is told in Rev. Clarke's own words, and those of the orphans, which gives one an intimate and historical look at a most remarkable chapter in America's history. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume of records from the “surrender books” of the American Female Guardian Society’s Home for the Friendless in New York spans the years 1880-1930. The books contain records of children being admitted and discharged from the homes. Nearly 250,000 c ... Read more

Product Description
New 1999 collection of interviews of orphan train riders, 1850-1923. With photos. Very special book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Orphan Train History
This fascinating compilation of personal accounts, letters, pictures and official documents about the mass movement of 150,000 American children from New York to states throughout the West, primarily the Midwest, from 1854 to 1929. This "placing out" process, initiated by Rev. Charles Loring Brace, founder of the New York Children's Aid Society, brought children from the streets and orphanages of New York to farm family homes. The descriptions in the book are vivid accounts of personal tragedy and triumph. While the book does not present a historical review of this migration, the reader gleans a great deal of information and a sense of history as it unfolded. The glimpses directly into the lives of persons involved, many of whom are still living, gives a powerful insight into this historical and intensely personal phenomenon.

... Read more

Product Description
Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski is the new face in Karen Cushman"s gallery of unforgettable heroines. One of a group of orphans, 12-year-old Rodzina boards a train on a cold day in March 1881. She"s reluctant to leave Chicago, the only home she can remember, and she knows there"s no substitute for the family she has lost. She expects to be adopted and turned into a slave—or worse, not to be adopted at all.

As the train rattles westward, Rodzina unwittingly begins to develop attachments to her fellow travelers, even the frosty orphan guardian, and to accept the idea that there might be good homes for orphans—maybe even for a big, combative Polish girl. But no placement seems right for the formidable Rodzina, and she cleverly finds a way out of one bad situation after another, until at last she finds the family that is right for her.

Once again, Karen Cushman brings us a compelling story that is thoroughly researched, full of memorable characters, and told with wry humor and keen observation by an absolutely captivating narrator. Afterword. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

YOU LAUGH WITH THIS BOOK,AND YOU CRY WITH IT.
Rodzina is a great book about an orphan from chicago,with heads west on a train to be givin to familys.Its a great book that has made me alot more grateful for the things i have such as a warm place to sleep,good warm food,a loving and caring family.This is a great book for old and young!!!!

Polish Courage
How did I not know the history of the children's orphan trains in the United States? I found myself fascinated all the way through, not just with the events of this journey, but also with the delightful characters.

Rodzina Brodski, a 12-year-old Polish orphan girl from Chicago, and two dozen other children were put on an orphan train headed west in the hope that they could be adopted by good families. Not every family wants a child to love and cuddle, however. In the early 1880s, westerners were mostly hard-scrabble ranchers, farmers and miners, who needed a hard worker with a strong back, not another mouth to feed.

The story of Rodzina, as she grows from grouchy and sad to a more hopeful and independent girl is one that evolves, as she faces two women who want her for her labor, and later, a man who wants her to replace his dying wife.

This is my favorite kind of book -- spunky characters, fun to read, and along the way I learn something!
Recommended for girls 9-12 -- and I enjoyed it, too!

All right
I enjoyed this book. It wasn't anything special like some of the author's other books. But I still enjoyed it on audiobook.

Rodzina the Orphan
This historical nonfiction book is about a real orphan girl named Rodzina Clara Jadwiga Anastazya Brodski. She and her family were Polish immigrants.Rodzina had a mom, dad, and twin 5-year-old brothers.When she was about ten her dad died, then her mom died shortly after that. She then became an orphan at the age of twelve and had to board the first of many trains going West with a lot of other orphans.Before becoming an orphan she didn't even know what a train was!

Because she was the oldest, she had to help take care of the other kids.She was lonely and sad, but then she became friends with some of the others whose names were Lacey, Joe, and his brother Sammy.She also met a lot of other people who were traveling west on the trains.Rodzina was talking to a lady with "rosy red cheeks and red cherries on her hat.She seemed very nice."The two adults that were watching the orphans and making sure they didn't get hurt were Mr. Szprots, who wasn't very nice and Ms. Doctor, who Rodzina grew to like.

Did the tall, brave Rodzina get picked to be a daughter or didn't she?How many of the original fourteen orphans would find good homes on the train ride West?I recommend this book to people who would like to learn more about the world of a young orphan in the 1880's.I loved this book and know if you read it you will too!

Rodzina Book Review

As the orphans board the train they are told they are going to be adopted by loving and caring families out west. Rodzina Brodski, in the novel Rodzina by Karen Cushman, isn't sure about this and doesn't want a new family. She is perfectly fine with her orphanage back in Chicago but is forced to move west. Along the way she meets several orphans and interesting people. Another orphan on the train named Lacey becomes very good friends with Rodzina after they end up sitting together. Another person who Rodzina meets is the lady who is in charge of the orphans named Mrs. Doctor. Later at the end of the novel Mrs. Doctor who has grown fond of Rodzina decides to have Rodzina come live with her.This book is very fascinating and with its fast paced action it will make the reader anxious to know what will happen next. This is a good novel and I would recommend it to others.


Another reason why I would recommend this book is because the characters seem very realistic. I could imagine them in the scenes of the book as I read the story. Rodzina seems like an average girl who is scared and not wanting to be part of a new family, as most orphans would be. Another example, Mrs. Doctor at first seems cruel but later find out she is kind and caring. The plot seems also very realistic because several of these events actually did happen to real orphans.


Another reason why I recommend this book is because of the creativity in the plot.This book will grab the reader's attention from the very beginning when the orphan's situations are described. The reader will have fun trying to imagine how Rodzina feels and what she is going though. It will make the reader really relieve the hardships in there lives.


As a historical fiction novel, Rodzina told about how life was in America during the late 1800's. The author used great detail to describe the country side that the train traveled though and the cities they spent time in. After reading the novel I had a much better understanding of how life was different form today. An example of this difference is how long it took them to travel from Chicago to California.


Rodzina is an excellent well written novel that I would highly recommend. Readers looking for a funny adventurous story will love this book. The reader will route for Rodzina to find a family and live happily. They will want to keep reading until they find out the great ending of who adopts Rodzina.




~C. Cirillo
... Read more