New York in the late 1800s
Many immigrants entered New York City in the late 1800s. They fled from poverty and tyranny with dreams for a better life for themselves and their families. Unfortunately the conditions were not much better in the cities of the U.S.  There were few jobs, low wages and poor working conditions. Because there were no unions for the workers and the conditions were unsafe, many accidents happened. There was no protection for workers or their families if the wage earner was injured, lost his or her job, or died. The city was also a breeding ground for infectious disease. Many of the poor were stricken with cholera, typhoid, typhus, and other airborne diseases. Another major problem was rapid population growth. From 30,000 in 1800, New York’s population doubled in size every 10 years. By the beginning of the 1900s the population was four and a half million, many of whom were poor.

New York City

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The Children’s Aid Society
In 1854, the number of homeless children in New York City was at a peak. Approximately 30,000 children were forced to search the streets for food and shelter. Many children formed gangs to protect themselves from violence in the streets. The growing problem worried a young New Yorker, Reverend Charles Loring Brace. Brace started an organization called The Children’s Aid Society and tried to help orphan children by teaching them skills that would enable them to survive. Unfortunately the organization needed to do more. Brace conceived a plan to remove the orphaned children from the streets and send them to loving farm families in the Midwest. He developed “the family plan” idea that children would be taken into homes of “adoptive families” and treated just as if they were biological children. He believed that the West was healthier for the children both physically and emotionally. Between 1854 and 1929, over 100,000 children boarded the “orphan trains” to find new families. The first orphan train left New York on September 20, 1854 with 46 children between the ages of 10 and 12 years old, all of whom were placed in families in Dowagiac, Michigan. The new program was the beginning of foster families in the U.S.
 

The Journey
The term “orphan train” refers to the trains that carried children to the Mid-West to find new homes. However, many of the children were not orphans. Some had parents who were unable to care or provide for them due to illness or addiction. Many were new immigrants whose parents had no jobs and could not afford to care for their children. A majority of the children on the trains were teenagers who could work as farm hands for the Midwest families. In many cases the result was positive and the children found caring homes. However, there were also families who used the children as free labor and neglected or abused them.

New York		Michigan