Little-known "Orphan Train" story to be highlighted at Homestead NM of America
It's one of most compelling stories from America's history: Between 1854 and 1929 thousands of children from Eastern cities were sent to the Midwest and West on "Orphan Trains." On March 7, 2010, Homestead National Monument of America will host an Orphan Train historian and one of the few remaining Orphan Train Riders for a special program.
Homestead National Monument of America, located in southeastern Nebraska, is an appropriate location for the talk. The park "commemorates the Homestead Act of 1862 and the far-reaching effects it had upon the landscape and people. It was one of the most significant and enduring events in the westward expansion of the United States."
Some of those homesteads also became homes for children on the Orphan Trains. According to the Nebraska State Historical Society,
"Between 1854 and 1929 more than 200,000 children rode "orphan trains" from Eastern cities to the Midwest and West to be placed in foster homes. The Children's Aid Society in New York City initiated the program in an attempt to provide wholesome homes for orphaned children who might otherwise face a life of poverty and crime. In fact, many of these children were not orphans at all, but had parents who were unable to care for them."
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Homestead Act was signed into
Homestead Act was signed into law By Abraham Lincoln way back 1862. This has been a huge debate even before it become a law. Many have been trying to outlaw the Act as the states worried that this would create more free territories. It's been a hundred forty-eight years since it was signed and still the debate is not over.