Lottery Helps Develop National Orphan Train Complex

Were you aware that Concorida, Kan., is the site of the National Orphan Train Complex? Between 1854 and 1929 an estimated 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were placed out in what is known today as the Orphan Train Era. Trains were used as a mode of transportation to move these children across 47 states and Canada for adoption.

When the orphan train movement began, it is estimated that 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of New York City. Two charity institutions, the Children’s Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital, were determined to help these children. The children were transported to their new homes on trains which were eventually labeled “Orphan Trains.” Approximately 5,000 of these children were adopted by residents of Kansas. This period of mass relocation of children in the United States is widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in America.

The National Orphan Train Complex recently received a $45,000 Attraction Development Grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce to finish the interior of it’s Morgan-Dowell Research Center. The research center will include storage for the Orphan Train Heritage Society of America archives, a research room, curator’s office, and gift shop.

“This grant, which is being used to complete the Morgan-Dowell Research Center, will provide an opportunity for people in this community, as well as the nation as a whole, to learn about and research the children that rode on the Orphan Trains,” explains Stephanie Haiar, Curator.

Construction on the Morgan-Dowell Research Center began in May 2006 and the exterior was completed in June 2006. The interior is expected to be completed this spring.

“This will be a one-of-a-kind facility and hopefully bring many people into this community who may have otherwise never visited,” said Stephanie Haiar. “We will be providing the community with a central location to house information on thousands of Orphan Train Riders, including their stories, photographs, genealogy, etc. Our goal is to educate the public about the history of the Orphan Trains and hopefully provide people with the information they are seeking regarding their relatives who rode the trains.”

On September 14-15, 2007, the National Orphan Train Complex will be hosting the National Orphan Train Celebration, Celebrating History – Hand in Hand with the Brown Grand Theater. For more details and information regarding the National Orphan Train Complex, contact: 785-243-4471 or othsa@msn.com.