Throughout his tenure as secretary of the Children's Aid Society, Charles Loring Brace also sought to change public attitudes toward poor children. "When a child of the streets stands before you in rags with a tearstained face, you cannot easily forget him," he once said. Brace argued that the best environment for a child was within a nurturing and loving family, not orphan asylums or other institutions. It was in the family that children learned the values that would help them become productive, honest, and virtuous citizens. There were simply not enough families in the area to take care of all these children.
Undaunted, Charles Loring Brace embraced a bold idea. He looked to the West, where generations of Americans had sought renewal and the hope of a better future. Why not send poor children West to live with farm families? They would benefit from the vitality of country living, while learning the value of hard, honest labor. More important, they would escape the unhealthy and degrading urban environment they now endured. Why not indeed?
And so the Orphan Trains were born.
Want To Know More? read some of Charles Loring Brace's own observations in The Life of the Street Rats. Or read portions of Jacob Riis' book How The Other Half Lives for a contemporary account of homeless children in the nineteenth century.
Check Out At Your Library:Orphan Train Rider by Andrea Warren (Grade 4+).
The copyright of the article "Street Arabs" - Page 2 in History For Children is owned by Meg Greene Malvasi. Permission to republish "Street Arabs" - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
2.
Aug 7, 1999 3:41 PM
Thanks Maria. This is a little known episode in American history, though it certainly isn't because it is uninteresting. In recent years, more has appeared on the subject from children's books to more ...
-- posted by malvasi
1.
Aug 3, 1999 3:24 PM
Incredible and moving article. I can't wait for next week's. Even though there are many current problems with how children are treated, we have indeed come a long way.
By the way, I really like the ...
-- posted by mariaandrea
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