History: Orphan Train Annual Reunion UPDATED

Read the history of the Orphan Train as told by orphans and their children at Next Stop: Opelousas THE ORPHAN TRAIN CHANGED LIVES – AND SOCIAL AWARENESS [Acadiana Profile by Frank Dicesare]

It is important to understand how adoption got started in the US, and sadly noting that some parts haven’t changed much. The search for identity is very much part of this story as it is with adoptees today.

Some excerpts: “From 1873 to 1929 the Foundling Hospital’s administrators, the Sisters of Charity and the Children’s Aid Society brought orphaned children from New York City by train to Louisiana and beyond where they would be placed with Catholic foster parents who were married. Most Orphan Train riders were between 3 and 6 years old and typically the children of European immigrants; few ever knew their birthparents.”

“Foster parents who brought Orphan Train children into their homes had to promise the Foundling Hospital to give their new children at least a sixth grade education. When most orphans were not in school, however, they worked in their foster homes as indentured servants. Bernard, who came to Opelousas in 1919 at the age of 2, was one of the few Orphan Train riders who went from being an indentured servant to a legally adopted member of the family. With a laugh, she recalls having to clean the house every morning before she left for school, which invariably made her late for class.

Despite their indentured status in their foster homes, the orphans were not without advocates. Each year either a nun from the Sisters of Charity or an agent appointed by the Foundling Hospital paid a visit to the foster homes to check in on the orphans, a practice that continued until the orphan was between 13 and 21 years old.

“Before the Orphan Train system, orphaned children were never checked on,” says Harold Dupre, president of the Louisiana Orphan Train Society and son of Orphan Train rider George Thompson. “If you did well, good for you; if you didn’t, that was too bad. There were three trains that dropped children off here in Opelousas in 1907, and the last brought two of those children back to the Foundling Hospital because the agents believed they were not being treated properly by their foster parents.”

Adjustment

“In Louisiana, many orphans found it difficult to adjust to Acadiana’s French-speaking culture and rural setting. At first, none of them understood the language, and few, if any, had ever been on a farm. Some orphans were frightened by the farm animals.”

“The Bittersweet Search for Identity
For many Orphan Train riders, the tough times did not end in childhood. Most of them entered adulthood with unanswered questions about their own identities and the primal need to discover information about their birthparents. Many orphans wrote to the Foundling Hospital to get their birth records, but their requests were often rejected. Instead, hospital officials in effect told their former orphans to forget about their pasts and to be happy with the lives they were given.

Still, many orphans persisted in tracking down their birthparents; some even succeeded. In 1962, the Foundling Hospital sent John Brown his birth certificate and baptismal certificate, which contained the name of his mother, Mary Brown, and his father, Nicholas Schmidt. It was a rare stroke of luck. Most Orphan Train riders went to their graves knowing little to nothing about who they were. Florella Inhern, secretary, treasurer and archivist of the Louisiana Orphan Train Society, says her father-in-law, Aloysius Inhern Sr., wrote to the Foundling Hospital many times in his adulthood to inquire if he was a United States citizen and to get the names of his birthparents. None of his letters was answered. He did not know the name of his birth mother until the day before he died at the age of 82.”

Update: “Sleepy Eye local Renee Wendinger’s published book, Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York, received mention in the Jan. 25 edition of USA Today.

The story in USA Today is about those who are searching for family history from relatives who rode the Orphan Trains.

Renee’s mother, Sophia Hillesheim-Kral, 96, of Sleepy Eye, was one of those youngsters.

Growing up, Renee attended Orphan Train reunions with her mother and became inspired.
Initially she began organizing reunions and speaking publicly about the Orphan Train, until 2010, when she published a book about it.

“That book was a labor of love,” she said. “It is very close and very near and dear to my heart.”
Orphaned or abandoned children from New York City and other East Coast cities, who had been in the care of the Children’s Aid Society or the New York Foundling Hospital, were put on trains headed west.

Renee’s mother, Sophia, came to Minnesota aboard one such train when she was two.

As Renee continued to attend reunions with her mother, she became fascinated by the stories. She realized this was a part of history. Albeit not a triumphant part of history, but a part of history even so. She began to realize the story needed to be written down.

As she spoke at different events about the Orphan Trains, more and more people began to tell Renee she needed to write a book.

“I was constantly being pushed toward that,” she said.

In 2010, that became a reality when John Grahm Tucker, a publisher at Norfleet Press, took Renee under his wing and guided her through the publishing process.

The book is sold at Randy’s Family Drug and Gift in Sleepy Eye and at Country Loft and the Brown County Historical Society in New Ulm. It is also available for checkout through the Traverse De Sioux Library System.

Even more extraordinary, is the fact that the book is being used in colleges and high schools as a reference book to history.

The book has also made it into the hands of some fairly famous people. Martin Scorsese, a screenwriter and actor, has a copy of the book. Patricia Birch, choreographer of the New York Institute developed a play called the “Orphan Train,” while utilizing the book as a reference. Ken Burns, a PBS historical film director, dropped Renee a note to let her know he thought the book was excellent.

“It’s gone far,” Renee said.

Not only does the book have far-reaching effects, Renee has also done interviews for the book for O Magazine and People Magazine, as well as on camera for the OWN Network and the TV show Balancing Act on Lifetime Movie Network.

Due to the tireless research Renee has done for the book, she has received many accolades including the New York Foundling award acknowledged by the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America for history preservation; Recipient of The Founders Award presented by the National Orphan Train Complex; Minnesota Historical Society winning essayist awards; and 2010 and 2011 Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award in History for winning book award of excellence.

The National Indie Excellence Awards is a leading book competition for small presses and independent publishers shining a spotlight on books that demonstrate excellence. Book award winners and finalists are based on overall excellence of presentation. The NIEA emblem on the cover lets people know Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York, is a book that meets the highest standards of independent publishing.

To read more about Renee or her book, visit her website at www.theorphantrain.com.
National Recognition
[Sleepy Eye News 2/2/12 by Terri Buller]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

It is important to understand the history of how adoption began in the US and how some of these practices are still being mimicked in international adoptions.