The Mystery of the Orphan Train Arrival Photograph

Learn more about how the staff of the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas solved the mystery of the Orphan Train arrival photograph using newspapers and the history of the placing agents.
During our closure due to COVID-19 we have created videos to educate the public about the Orphan Train Movement. If you have questions or would like more information please visit out website at www.orphantraindepot.org or our Facebook at / orphantraindepot
All images are the property of the National Orphan Train Complex.

[@drunkunc83]

The great reset

[@heretohear8662]

@@chadmaggs4189 What's with the "Let's go Brandon???" Do you believe in the Right / Left paradigm???

[@mariemonk104]

Focus shouldn't be on just orphans but on why they are orphaned.

[@ChitlinsLaundry]

WTF happened in 1850s???

[@andrewkmac3507]

The last reset

[@arntunateBrusselsSprout54]

Finally some truth comes out about this horrific part of our past. Next , please reveal children being sold in incubators at State Fairs! Thank you.

[@orphantraindepot]

Hello, our mission is the share information about orphan trains, and infantoriums do not directly relate to orphan trains (as far as we have read). If you are wanting to learn more about infantoriums, History.com, Smithsonian Magazine, and PBS have all written articles about them.

[@ericcorrea5622]

Cocky

[@thelionofjudah5318]

@@orphantraindepot speak the truth not lies

[@ElveeKaye]

@@orphantraindepot How are they not related? I've seen the film footage of the incubator babies, and the women holding them clearly have no affection for them, they're showing off these infants like they won a prize. Yet YOU say these incidents involving orphaned infants have no relation to the trains carrying countless thousands of orphaned children. I say they're the same thing in different venues, involving young people of different age groups. You may want to separate history into neat little boxes with no relationship to one another, but some of us know better.

[@orphantraindepot]

@@ElveeKaye You make an excellent point - history does not fit evenly into categories or boxes. It is likely that the emotional experiences of people involved with orphan trains and people involved with infantoriums were similar, and I am sure that the same socioeconomic hardships affected families involved in both phenomenon. However, as an organization, we study and share information on orphan trains. We are not experts in the history of infantoriums or similar medical sideshows.

[@colecole331]

Check out the infantoriums

[@TRUBEL-T]

It must have been so hard for all this poor kids souls.

[@vilma1850]

after 1933 anybody who carries Birth Certificate and claims as "his/hers" is an orphan. The token has been given to mother. If never claimed, it is considered "abandoned".

[@TheeMancUnion]

Them kids look better dressed and fed than most kids today 🤨

[@stankygeorge]

Thank you for the information, my question is: "Where did all these orphaned children come from and what happened to their parents"?

[@orphantraindepot]

Some of the children lost their parents to disease or injuries. Others were abandoned by one or both parents. Others were removed from abusive or neglectful homes by the courts. Most orphan train riders weren't "true" orphans, but just came from impoverished families who couldn't make enough money to provide for the children.

[@MudfloodUSA]

One thing to keep in mind was the "Puritan" values of the Victorian times. Sins such as adultery, fornication and having children out of wedlock were punished harshly. The consequences for women in particular, were brutal. Single women that had children out of wedlock were sentenced to a lifetime of poverty, prostitution and were the outcasts of society. Think of the book "The Scarlett Letter", which most of us read in high school. So we have a clear historical contradiction here. If the consequences for having children of wedlock were so harsh, why were there so many orphans? Where are the parents? Something is missing. Simply saying there have always been many orphans all over the world at any point in history, which is an argument many people use, is flimsy at best. Children were also valued by families in rural areas for help on the farm and in factories as you discussed. Not to mention, children have always been VALUABLE to their families for many reasons. The narrative that "thousands" of healthy unwanted children were roaming the streets of New York ,with no parents in sight and had nowhere to go is completely ridiculous. Excellent video.

[@QIKUGAMES-QIKU]

Just found this channel... Ya got me 🙊🙉🙈

[@sidneyhart6221]

Orph(snake/serpent)ant

[@pvilla]

Sum people have instincts. Most people don’t have souls.

[@jcal7775]

It would be I wise to save kids.

[@Mmdmade]

Cool!

[@bradleymosman8325]

I'm very excited to know this. Some of my ancestors (Brew, Baker) were living in Blue Rapids, Kansas; probably at the time this photo was taken. I don't know that they were involved with the orphan trains. But I wouldn't be surprised it they were in that crowd. Thank you so much!

[@jbos5107]

Yep lots of kids were just free labor and worse then and now and some were and are still ill used by their own parents. Not just adoptive parents , but the level of crazy in the world today is now reaching back into history to sustain itself and well, that's just crazy.

[@grimoire7851]

niceli drerssed

[@ThiccChickCrisha]

Where did all these orphans suddenly appear from?

[@danbartko164]

@@chadmaggs4189 Look into videos by JonLevi He uploads a new one every early Sunday.He will open up a new world to you.By theory involving our hidden history, he lays out what he believes is the true purpose of orphans. You can pull up all of his work. We don't know enough to know what we don't know.

[@orphantraindepot]

In the 1850's when the program started, there were 35,000 children homeless on the streets of New York. There were no child services or DCF or any of those programs. Many times the children were jailed for being homeless. Charles Loring Brace saw this and set to work to find a solution. The 50+ orphanages were full and there was no place to go with these children. Some were completely orphaned. Others had lost one parent. If it was the father, mother's had no decent way to earn money to support multiple children and they would send their children, hoping they'd have a better life. In those days, a single man could not raise girls without there being a woman in the house. Some of the children ran away from abusive or neglectful homes. Children were sent west with a placement agent who got help from local citizens in picking good homes for the children. Those agents and the local committee members checked on the children until they turned of age. 85% of the children had positive experiences.

[@orphantraindepot]

Orphans can be found anywhere in the world at any point in history. The children didn't suddenly appear, but were orphaned through a variety of circumstances. Many children lost their parents to illnesses, tenement fires, or injuries from poor working conditions. Some orphan train children were not true orphans, but were instead abandoned or surrendered to various charitable organizations. Many families living in New York City at the time were incredibly poor, and some of them just didn't have enough money to care for their children. Organizations like the Children's Aid Society provided safe places for children to stay if they did not have families to care for them.

[@Cjohn31]

@@chadmaggs4189 you most question everything

[@fall4nothing92]

Watch my most recent video on my channel "The Lost History of the World (Presented by: EWAR)". He starts talking about the orphans around the 48:24 mark 👍

[@webbedtoes2]

WE WILL HAVE JUSTICE & TRUTH! Mahalo for your work on this channel! 🙏🏻