The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Bison Book)
by Marilyn Irvin Holt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Marilyn Irvin HoltEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994-02-01
ISBN: 0803272650
Number of pages: 264
Publisher: Bison Books
Product features:
- Paperback with photo of a train and children
Book Reviews of The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Bison Book)
Book Review: Orphan Trains is a Fascinating Account
Summary: 5 Stars
The Orphan Trains, by Marilyn Irvin Holt, is simply excellent. The book is extremely well-written and absolutely riveting. Holt carefully documents her work.
I particularly enjoyed the author's discussion of how child rearing views were changing during this time in American history. It was fascinating to read because it clearly paves the way for why the "placing out" of these children was seen as such an excellent idea. Shipping these children off to other parts of the country seemed completely justifiable when one considers the alternative facing these children. Indeed, the idea of "placing out" isn't so bad considering what happens to so many young children now raised in poverty in the ghettos of this nation.
The United States was not the first country to come up with the idea of placing out. Holt points out that other countries also used this idea for "getting rid" of the impoverished. In this country, however, placing out definitely was a movement that started with well meaning motives. The idea was to salvage these often abandoned, neglected impoverished children and send them to good homes in the West where, coincidentally, their labor was also often needed.
Holt's discussion of this event is just extremely well presented. She is factual and not judgmental. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who's interested in societal changes. From this episode in history came the beginnings of social work. It also raises interesting questions about how children are dealt with nowadays where they are often left with birth parents to the extreme detriment of the child. It makes placing out seem rather desirable.
Summary of The Orphan Trains: Placing Out in America (Bison Book)
'From 1850 to 1930 America witnessed a unique emigration and resettlement of at least 200,000 children and several thousand adults, primarily from the East Coast to the West. This 'placing out', an attempt to find homes for the urban poor, was best known by the 'orphan trains' that carried the children. Holt carefully analyzes the system, initially instituted by the New York Children's Aid Society in 1853, tracking its imitators as well as the reasons for its creation and demise. She captures the children's perspective with the judicious use of oral histories, institutional records, and newspaper accounts. This well-written volume sheds new light on the multifaceted experience of children's immigration, changing concepts of welfare, and Western expansion. It is good, scholarly social history' - "Library Journal". 'Soon there will be no memories of the 'little companies', as they were called, of children setting out with an adult leader for a new life. This little book is kind of a preservation movement, and a contribution to our understanding of how the West was won' - David Shribman, "Wall Street Journal". 'As a portrait of the time's charitable networks, "The Orphan Trains" succeeds...Holt's work brings to light a meaningful concept: the idea that charity; then and now, is sometimes tinged with greed, indifference, hostility, self-promotion and is an institution that can serve the giver more than the receiver' - David James Rose, "Washington Times". 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.19th Century Books
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