From 1853 to 1929, over 200 thousand people, overwhelmingly children, were “placed out,” taken from overcrowded US cities and sent to new homes in the country. Could one of your relatives have been an Orphan Train child?
In 1897, speaker Marcia Pertuz’s grandfather and his brother were put on the Orphan Train by the New England Home for Little Wanderers in Boston and sent to Indiana to live with new families. Their mother, who had been abandoned by her husband, had left them in the Home temporarily. She never gave permission for them to be placed out; but when she returned for her sons, they were gone.
Come learn some of the history of the Orphan Train movement in the US, the appalling living conditions of many children and families during that time period and hear the steps Marcia took to solve the mystery of why her grandfather was in an orphanage in 1900.
Brown Bag Lecture Series is held at the Amelia Island Museum of History., 233 South 3rd Street. Attendance is free and open to the public and attendants may bring their lunch. Seating is limited on a first come, first served basis. This program is wheelchair accessible.
For more information contact Summer Bias at 904-261-7378 x102 or Summer@AmeliaMuseum.org.