The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America

by Marilyn Irvin Holt

Setting aside our present-day romantic notions about orphan trains, Holt's book sheds valuable new light on the phenomenon by putting it in the context of nineteenth-century ideals about childhood, the roles of social reformers, the changing theories of relief and welfare for the poor, western development, and rail expansion.

Marilyn Irvin Holt, former director of publications at the Kansas State Historical Society; is a freelance editor, writer, and researcher and teaches historical editing at the University of Kansas.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Adoption, Reference, American History

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Amanda Tero · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I FINALLY finished this book after 2+ weeks. 187 pages split into five chapters make for some loooong chapters!

Overall, this book had good information, but it sometimes repeated information and was executed drily.

It started with a history of how Americans' viewed children. This study of society in the 1800s was interesting to read, because I could clearly see 19th century authors in sympathy with the views Holt described.

The middle three chapters were the most interesting, as they got into the actual orphan stories and lives. I will definitely reference back to this book, but it was a little tedious to read.

Sometimes, it felt like fact was mixed with Holt's opinions or interpretation of information.

[Susanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very impressive book in the amount of research that was done in writing it and how it all tied together so well. However, I would have liked more personal stories about the actual orphans, especially after having found from read the old Minden Couriers that children from the new York society had been placed in Minden. The first and last chapters, although necessary for such a book in setting up the background and explaining what happened afterward, were not so interesting to me. It was a slow read, but well written and researched.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early 1800's Charles Loring Brace noted the need to homeless/parent less/ poverty stricken children off the crowded streets of New York City, deeming the need to save these children by giving them a chance in areas of the country that had fresh air and places to learn a trade. Some of these children were in prison for the basic fact that there was no where else to place them or they had already committed crimes trying to survive. "Placing Out" had been practiced in Europe and he thought, along with others, that it would work in the US. Holt's book is statistical account of this process which between 1830 and 1920, placed 200,000 children from the ages of 2 to early teens on trains and sent them West with chaperones, stopping at various towns along the way where people could pick out their child and hopefully take them home to a better life. Quite a bit of information is lost due to families moving, no one keeping track of the "placed", and runaways. It comes down to a equal percentage that were placed with loving families, were placed with families that wanted slave labor, and children, who just didn't want to be "placed".

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scholarly account of the practice of transporting poor urban children to rural areas as a means of improving their existence. Looked at from a sociology viewpoint more so than an historical one. Has some historical photos of orphan trains, but not much in the way of opinions or interviews of individuals who went through this system. Any such opinions or interviews come from contemporary records from the organizations who were responsible for the placing out system. Covers the changes in sociology from about 1850 to the 1930's and how the view of childhood changed over that time period. Made for some rather dry reading.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough academic exploration of the so-called orphan trains, including the societal beliefs about childhood. Very well researched and well-sourced. I was glad to see mention of Boston's limited use of the orphan trains, before Charles Loring Brace attempted it in New York a few years later, a fact many accounts overlook.

A great one for research or if you're really interested in the facts of the orphan trains. I prefer to read more first-hand or personalized accounts, so this one was not for me.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea. Powerful, chilling, heartbreaking.

[Katerina]

My great aunt Maxine had 2 classmates in Iowa who were from the Orphan train.

[Rowland Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent Review Of The Western Placement Of Vagrant Children

Although the prose is a bit turgid in the early going this treatise gives a thorough exploration of the “placing out” of children from eastern cities to the Midwest and beyond from the 1850’s to the 1920’s when the practice came to an end. Ms. Holt covers a broad range of issues that transformed the country over those 70 years including attitudes towards childhood, the challenges of inner city poverty, labor needs in the expanding west and the changes wrought as Western cities expanded and faced issues once confined to the East. Thoughtful and thorough.

[Frrobins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was my second time trying to get into this book, and it is simply so dry that I could not enjoy it. It does have a lot of good information but it was conveyed in a tedious manner. I gave up a few chapters in. Given that the subject matter is so intrinsically interesting it says a lot that the book ended up being so boring. Still, if you are a serious scholar of history this might be a good fit for you, but if you're wanting some intriguing historical reading then I'd find a different book on the subject.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been interested in learning more about the Orphan Trains. This was written years ago. It gives some fairly good information about the Orphan trains that ran from about 1850-1929. I wish they would have provided more actual individual cases in the book. The reading was a bit dry and read like a text book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one chunk of a book with super long chapters. So it was a bit of a hard read.
But all in all, well worth it. It’s very informative and answered a lot of questions I had about the orphan trains/placing out.
(Please note that this book is more about Placing Out in general than just the Orphan Trains. It goes in-depth about all the groups that were placed out — more than just orphans.)

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Drier than a desert Sirocco.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An academic book about an important piece of Midwestern, and East Coast, history. I concur with other reviewers that this was quite dry. Well-researched, but dry.

[Diana Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great research book (re: dry) but the subject matter was so very interesting.

[Meghan]

I couldn't finish this. So dry. Very interesting topic but reads like a college research essay.

[Kenny Orth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative and eye opening, but mostly read like a textbook.

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the whole "orphan train" mythology and reality from inception to discontinuation.

[Kathleen]

I didn’t finish this book but I’ve read as much of it as I’m going to.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for a book club and it really isn't my thing. Very repetitive and I wish it had more first hand accounts

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject matter is fascinating, but the book was very dry, more like something you would read while doing research. My book club read it and felt the same. We have a member whose great-grandma came to Indiana on an orphan train, and made the discussion more interesting.

[Mj Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic look at the lives of children who were sent west from NYC to people who wanted servants but who were treated like slaves! I like the new book written in the last few year about the life of one gal.

[Ann Hein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction research paper giving the facts out the so-called Orphan Trains. I'll admit I didn't read every word, but found interesting and factual information which is a good background for reading some of the non-fiction works on this subject.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better books on how American dealt with children's poverty before the invention of the modern day social services. Controversial in the latter years of the program but very effective. There are still forms of placing out going on today.

[Cws]

362.734

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read. I hadn't heard about orphan trains until I came across the book while on a trip in Nebraska.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so fascinated by the whole Orphan train story. This is one of the first books that I read on the subject.

[Patrick Macke · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little disappointing ... I was looking for a book more about the kids, but didn't want to read a memoir ... some good pieces but too much about the mechanics of the orphan organizations themselves

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times, the information seemed a bit repetitive or the book backtracked a bit when I wasn't expecting, but I really enjoyed learning more about this period of history.

[Linda Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used as reference for 'Orphan Train' book discussion.

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

not what I expected