by Charlotte M. Endorf

Many poor immigrants coming to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries left poverty and oppression only to discover that conditions were not much better in the new world Orphanages could not hold all the homeless children. Beginning in 1854, charitable organizations in New York City began sending orphans on trains to the west to find new families. As the train made its stops the children were lined up on courthouse lawns to be examined by prospective families. In a series of interviews with orphan train riders and their decedents Charlotte Endorf shares their touching stories. The last generation of Orphan Train riders is still living in towns across the United States. This book was written so that this very important segment of American History would not be lost.