In 1973, the United States legalized abortion with the infamous Roe v. Wade decision. This tragic decision has resulted in the deaths of millions of babies, and untold suffering for women involved in abortions. Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of marchers protested this awful ruling, and it is hoped that someday it will be overturned.
It is useful to compare our contemporary situation with those from previous generations. Several questions need to be asked. First, what happened to neglected and sometimes unwanted children in the past in the United States? Second, why was adoption so possible 85 years ago, and so very difficult today? Finally, what solutions did earlier American generations find for abandoned children? One answer to this complicated set of questions is provided by Andrea Warren in the compelling book, "We Rode the Orphan Trains." The author follows the lives of six destitute children that rode west on orphan trains. The accounts are moving and instructing.
In major American cities, abandoned and orphaned children were a rising civic concern. Most of these children were placed in large orphanages and were supervised with strict discipline. The care was uneven in many institutions. Some of the caregivers were dedicated and loving while others could be unyielding and tyrannical. As the number of unwanted children rose, the Children’s Aid Society of New York City organized an entirely new adoption plan. Children would be taken by train to states west of New York and adopting families would select a boy or girl from the group of youngsters. Adults would accompany the children on this journey west and provide a modicum of comfort and protection for the children. Frequently, fliers were sent to the cities and towns before the arrival of the children at the train station. Would-be parents frequently knew that they were going to get a child when the train arrived. When the train arrived in the city, all the children would line up and be selected by people at the site.
The Children’s Aid Society tried to make sure the placements were suitable, and would come back once a year to see how adoptions were working out. If it became clear that abuse was taking place, the Society removed the child from that home, and found a new set of parents. There were no guarantees that everything would work out right, but the stories of orphan train riders told by Andrea Warren indicates that the program was very successful.
The author does not gloss over the fact that the orphans often felt embarrassed when they were examined before being adopted. She also states that most of the children had a hidden ache in their hearts from not knowing about their biological families. Some of the children in the stories seek out their biological families after they are grown. In most cases this reunion causes them intense depression because the parents have either died or are still indifferent to them. All of the orphan riders discussed in the book are thankful for the opportunity of being adopted.
For all the difficulties, the orphan trains offered a way out for many children in desperate plight. Robert Peterson was abandoned in New York City by his father in 1922. At 5 years of age, he rode the orphan train to Nebraska and was placed in loving and caring family. He was forever grateful for the chance at life that the orphan train gave him.
I hope you get a chance to read this beautifully told story. Most of the orphan train riders are dying or elderly. But their stories are a testimony to life, and to an idea that an earlier American generation made to preserve the lives of unwanted children.
