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

Name: Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children He Saved and Failed
Brand: University of Chicago Press
SKU: 9780226616674
Price: 15.99 USD
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Contributors:

Stephen O'Connor

Publisher:

University of Chicago Press

Binding:

Paperback

Book Category:

History, Social Science, Family & Relationships

Book Subcategory:

United States, Philanthropy & Charity, Adoption & Fostering

Book Topic:

19th Century

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The product is eligible for a complimentary return within 30 days from the date of purchase. Furthermore, individual items are shipped within 24 hours of receiving the order.

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Specifications +

Release Date:

2004-03-01

ISBN 13:

9780226616674

Weight:

1.12 lbs

Size:

8.98 x 6.08 x 0.83 inches

Pages:

384

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product description

Description

The Definitive History of America's Orphan Trains

Orphan Trains tells the remarkable story of Charles Loring Brace and the Children's Aid Society, an organization that forever changed the lives of 250,000 destitute children between 1854 and 1929. This comprehensive historical account combines biography, firsthand testimonies, and meticulous research to document one of America's most ambitious yet controversial social experiments.

Charles Loring Brace's Revolutionary Vision

In mid-nineteenth-century New York, vagrant youth—both orphans and runaways—filled the streets. The city's solution was to sweep these children into prisons or almshouses. In 1853, young minister Charles Loring Brace proposed a radical alternative by creating the Children's Aid Society. His organization fought to provide homeless children with shelter, education, and for many, a new family in the country.

The Orphan Train Movement: 1854-1929

Between 1854 and 1929, the orphan trains transported children from overcrowded urban centers to rural homes across every one of the forty-eight contiguous states. This book documents both the successes and failures of this massive relocation effort, examining the lives of children who were saved and those who suffered under the program.

Biography Meets Social History

Stephen O'Connor masterfully weaves together multiple narrative threads: a detailed biography of Charles Loring Brace, firsthand accounts from the orphans themselves, and broader analysis of 19th and early 20th-century American social reform. The result is a powerful blend of history, biography, and adventure that illuminates a little-known episode in American history.

About the Author

Stephen O'Connor teaches creative writing at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of Will My Name Be Shouted Out?, an account of his years teaching creative writing at an inner-city school in New York, and a collection of short fiction, Rescue.