Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed

This comprehensive non-fiction chapter book delves into the complex history of the Orphan Train Movement, a social experiment that transported an estimated 200,000 children from East Coast cities to rural areas across the Midwest and West between 1854 and 1929. It examines the life and motivations of Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children's Aid Society, who believed he was saving 'street Arabs' from poverty. The book doesn't shy away from the program's darker aspects, including criticisms regarding inadequate screening of foster families, the exploitation of children as farm labor, and the forced separation of siblings and immigrant families. It offers a nuanced look at a pivotal, often controversial, chapter in American social welfare history, highlighting both its successes and its failures. Ideal for readers aged 10-14 interested in historical events and social justice.

Tells the story of the orphan trains that were operated by the Children's Aid Society between 1854 and 1929, taking abandoned children from New York to homes in the Midwest and West; and discusses the life and motivations of young minister Charles Loring Brace, founder of the society.