Friday, September 27, 2024

Orphan Trains - Stephen O'Connor

 Sub-title: The story of Charles Loring Brace and the children he saved and failed

This is a totally different perspective on the orphan trains of the late 1800's from the novel I read earlier this month.  As the sub-title indicates, it is primarily the story of the life of Charles Loring Brace, who founded the Children's Aid Society (CAS) and ran it until his death.  He initiated the idea of shipping children West to be adopted into a better life than what he felt they were living in New York City.  It's a complicated story of trying to effect change with some success and great failures.  The book is a detailed portrait of how Brace came to be an advocate for children and how his beliefs and attitudes shaped the mission of the CAS.  The author seemed to squeeze every piece of information he found on Brace and the CAS organization, leading to an exhaustively detailed account.  It would have been a better story if he'd focused on the milestones in Brace's life.  

The book is a great reference for those interested in the orphan train evolution and its eventual demise.  The last chapter describes how it was the instigation for the child welfare and foster care systems that came about later in the 1900's and are with us today.  I've identified the biological parents of a couple of orphan train riders for their descendants and this book contributes to my understanding of the placements and its effects on the children. 


Published:  2001  Read: September 2024  Genre: History

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