In the last episode of the season, Joanna Lockwood, History Masters Student at FHSU, joins Hollie Marquess to discuss the orphan train. Joanna explains how and why the orphan train began, the experiences faced by orphan train riders on their journey and in their new homes, and modern memorialization efforts. Joanna’s great-grandfather, George Lockwood, was an orphan train rider at just six years old.
You can find this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or any of the major podcast platforms. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. While you’re there, give us a review. Let us know what you like and share widely!
Selected Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Johnson, Mary Ellen. Orphan Train Riders: Their Own Stories. Vol. 1. Wever, IA: Quixote Press, 1992. (This is just the first of a six-volume collection compiled by Mary Ellen Johnson and the OTHSA organization).
Secondary Sources
The American Experience: The Orphan Trains. Produced and Directed by Janet Graham and Edward Gray. Crystal City, VA: PBS, 1995. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/orphan/#cast_and_crew.
Aviles, Donna Nordmark. Orphan Train to Kansas. Shelbyville, KY: Wasteland Press, 2018
Holt, Marilyn Irvin. The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
Kidder, Clark. Emily’s Story: The Brave Journey of an Orphan Train Rider. Self-published, CreateSpace Publishing, 2007.
Langsam, Miriam Z. Children West: A History of the Placing-Out System of the New York Children’s Aid Society, 1853-1890. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin for Department of History, University of Wisconsin, 1964.
Are you interested in a history degree? We have online and on campus B.A. programs and we also have online and on campus M.A. programs in history or public history. Learn more at https://www.fhsu.edu/history/academic-program
Victor E. History 