When looking over history textbooks, teachers and students expect them to be accurate and tell them the important sections in history. But what are orphan trains? Don’t remember hearing about them in AP US History?

Orphan trains began operating in 1853 to help move orphaned children from crowded cities of the Eastern United states to large rural areas in the Midwest. No, they didn’t just drop them in the middle of nowhere; instead the children were taken to new homes. The children that were transported were more than likely neglected and abandoned. The operation ended in 1929 after an estimated 250,000 children were relocated. With the end of the orphan trains began the start of organized foster care in the United States.

This portion of history seems pretty important considering it began foster care in America and there were a lot of orphaned children taken and split from their siblings to have a better life. So why was it denied a spot in history textbooks? No one really knows why. Did the writers not see it fit in our history? It was present through 76 years of our history, lasting through the 19th and some of the 20th century.

source: wikipedia.org and childrensaidsociety.org