NEW YORK CITY, 1850 – CHARLES LORING
BRACE
Poverty, homelessness, neglect and
abandonment threatened many lives in the 1850s. But none were
affected more than the lives of children. In too many cases,
children became separated from their newly immigrated parents in
the hustle and bustle of the swollen streets of New York City. A
two-parent family often
sought to “place out” their children because they saw no
opportunity for their survival in the streets. As this “placing
out” movement grew, there were questions as to whether the
children had been “placed”, “abandoned”, or had been “snatched”
from the arms of their impoverished parents in order to be
“saved”.
Approximately 150-300,000 children found themselves in such
circumstances and were moved across country by agents of the
Children’s Aide Society
of New York. The Children’s Aide Society (CAS) was founded by a
young seminarian-turned-social worker, named Charles Loring
Brace. The son of a prominent Connecticut family, Brace had
almost finished his training at Union Theological Seminary when
he came to the conclusion that he could better serve God by
working with the poor than by preaching from the pulpit. Brace
had already established for himself the reputation as being a
protector of animal’s rights. But it was not until the case of a
small child named “Mary Ellen” came to his attention that he
turned his efforts to the plight of the children.
Arguing that children were God’s creatures and deserved as much
protection as the animals for which he was advocating, he was
successful in establishing the first child protection statute
and in 1853, established the Children’s Aide Society of New
York. This began the largest movement of children since the
Children’s Crusade of the Middle Ages in 1212 A.D.
1854-1929 – THE ORPHAN
TRAIN MOVEMENT
Brace found working with the poor to be difficult. But their
children seemed to be more hopeful. His plan was simple. CAS
agents took the children off the streets
of New York City or out of institutions, organized them into
little groups and took them west by train. Destinations were
usually prearranged with the local press announcing the
children’s impending arrival.
“The children ranged in age from about six to 18 and shared a
common grim existence. Homeless or neglected, they lived in New
York City's streets and slums with little or no
hope of a successful future. Their numbers were large - an
estimated 30,000 children were homeless in New York City in the
1850s.
Charles Loring Brace, the founder of The Children's Aid Society,
believed that there was a way to change the futures of these
children. By removing youngsters from the poverty and debauchery
of the city streets and placing them in morally upright
families, he thought they would have a chance of escaping a
lifetime of suffering. He proposed that these children be sent
by train to live and work on farms out west. They would be
placed in homes for free but they would serve as an extra pair
of hands to help with chores around the farm. They wouldn't be
indentured. In fact, older children placed by The Children's Aid
Society were to be
paid for their labors.
The Orphan Train Movement lasted from 1853 to the early 1900s
and more than 120,000 children were placed. This ambitious,
unusual and controversial social experiment is now recognized as
the beginning of the foster care concept in the United States.
Orphan Trains stopped at more than 45 states across the country
as well as Canada and Mexico. During the early years, Indiana
received the largest number of children. There were numerous
agencies nationwide that placed children on trains to go to
foster homes. In New York, besides CAS, other agencies that
placed children included Children's Village (then known as the
New York Juvenile Asylum), what is now New York Foundling
Hospital and the former Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New
York, which is now the Graham-Windham Home for Children.
Some of the children struggled in their newfound surrounding,
while many others went on to lead simple, very normal lives,
raising their families and working towards
the American dream. Although records weren't always well kept,
some of the children placed in the West went on to great
successes. There were two governors, one congressman, one
sheriff, two district attorneys, three county commissioners as
well as numerous bankers, lawyers, physicians, journalists,
ministers, teachers and businessmen.
The Orphan Train Movement and the success of other CAS
initiatives led to a host of child welfare reforms including
child labor laws, adoption and the establishment of foster care
services, public education, the provision of health care and
nutrition and vocational training. “ From
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org/about/train
For more information about this period of history you can look
up articles on the Internet at
http://www.childrensaidsociety.org
