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Created on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 14:05

Last Updated on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 14:49

Published on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 14:05

Written by Editor

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Carol Chandler of Dixon, IL, will be the presenter at the Wild Winter Wednesday program on March 13, 2013.  The program begins at 9:00 a.m. at the Windmill Cultural Center, 111 10th Avenue, in Fulton, IL. 

The program is free, and the building is easily accessible.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Chandler became aware of orphan trains, when a friend told about her grandmother who had come west on an orphan train.  The research she did on that topic took over her life! 

Orphan trains were the largest child migration program in the United States, and they formed an important part of the settlement of the Midwest. 

Wikimedia Commons noted:

• The Orphan Train Movement was a social experiment that transported children from crowded coastal cities of the United States, such as New York City and Boston, to willing foster homes across the Country.  The orphan trains ran between 1853 and 1929, relocating an estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children.  Editor's note:  The Children's Aid Society cites 120,000 children.)
• At the time the orphan train movement began, it was estimated that 30,000 vagrant children were living on the streets of New York City.
• Two charity institutions, The Children's Aid Society and, later, The New York Foundling Hospital, determined to help these children.  The institutions developed a program that placed homeless city children into homes throughout the country.  The children were transported to their new homes on trains, which were eventually labeled "orphan trains."
• This period of mass relocation of children in the United States is widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in America.

Chandler holds a BS nursing degree and, for fun, dabbles in gardening, reading, and genealogy.  She is chairperson of the City of Dixon Tree Commission and plays Mrs. Claus during the holidays.

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