Source:Patrick, Michael D. We Are a Part of History: The Story of the Orphan Trains

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"The plight of homeless children is an ancient and chronic problem of society, for which many remedies have been tried. One of the most successful of these began in the mid-19th century, when as many as 30,000 abandoned children wandered the streets of New York slums. In 1853, under the leadership of the Rev. Charles Loring Brace, a group of businessmen and clergymen formed the New York Children's Aid Society. A year later Brace's ' placing-out' plan went into effect, and the orphan trains began to run. From 1854 to well within this century(1900's), these trains carried thousands of children to foster homes in the Midwest and South, where Brace envisioned a better life for them. They were scattered from Michigan to Arkansas, from Texas to Nebraska, Wisconsin to Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Many of the children did find the better life. A few survive today to tell of their experiences. Since 1984, when the work began, the authors have searched them out, listening to their reminiscences and those of their relatives and friends"--Book

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