In the mid-19th century, over 250,000 orphans were sent on trains from New York to meet the strangers who would make up their new families. Descendants of these orphans shared the stories of their ancestors during the “Riders on the Orphan Train” program. 

The Department of Teaching and Learning hosted the multi-media presentation Tuesday, Oct. 28 in the KIVA Auditorium as part of the FANFARE celebration. 

Charles Loring Brace, a minister and founder of the Children’s Aid Society, believed institutions such as orphanages were detrimental to the health of the children they served. He established a means to transport children to families looking to adopt. Though many children found happy homes, others were simply adopted as servants to the family they were sent to. Good or bad, the orphan trains laid the foundation for the first foster care system in the United States. 

Alison Moore, author of “Riders on the Orphan Train,” and Phil Lancaster, musician, both became fascinated by the largest migration of children in United States history after watching a tear-jerking PBS documentary in which elderly orphan train riders shared their stories. 

“The two words, ‘orphan trains’ just haunted me,” said Moore. “I grew up as a half orphan, and so once I started to learn about this, I really felt a connection to children trying to deal with loss and the search for home.”

After realizing most people have never heard of this historical event. Moore and Lancaster made it their mission to travel around the country, gathering stories from survivors and their descendants in order to document and preserve these memories. 

“One story here in Louisiana that we heard only last year was about a French family, where they already had children, but they didn’t have a little boy,” said Lancaster. “A little girl took it upon herself to fill out an application for a brother to the hospital, trying not to lie to the priest, saying they didn’t speak very much English, but wanted to request a form to have a little brother sent to them. She never told her parents until they were notified that a boy was being sent to their home for adoption.”

Moore and Lancaster use their artistic skills to express the feelings and experiences of orphan train riders in order to color history with humanity. Moore’s book, “Riders on the Orphan Train,” is a fictional account of children Ezra and Elizabeth and their journey together.

Moore and Lancaster presented clips from a documentary, read excerpts from Moore’s novel and performed songs from their album “Riders on the Orphan Train.” After the presentation, those in attendance who are descendants of orphan train riders were given the opportunity to share their family’s history while being recorded.

“Everything they said about the orphan train was new to me,” said James Fournet, Hammond resident who attended the program with his wife. “What I got out of it were the emotions and feelings of what these children must have felt when they were young.”

Moore and Lancaster feel not only does their work honor children who experienced such a difficult journey, but it also serves the purpose of highlighting issues children have experienced throughout American history to the current state of child welfare.

“In some ways, it isn’t over,” said Moore. “There is still a great deal we need to learn about as a culture regarding how to treat unwanted children. When you look at what happened on the border, when all those children came from Central America, people in this country just wanted to close the door. History is repeating itself, in a way.”