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| The Children's Aid Society |
In 1853, Charles Loring
Brace and a group of
businessmen formed a new
organization to help care
for the neglected children
of New York City. They
called it the Children's Aid
Society (CAS) with Mr.
Brace as the first Secretary.
This care led to the
"free-home-placing-out" of
over 200,000 children
between 1854 and the early
1930s.
Brace and a group of
businessmen formed a new
organization to help care
for the neglected children
of New York City. They
called it the Children's Aid
Society (CAS) with Mr.
Brace as the first Secretary.
This care led to the
"free-home-placing-out" of
over 200,000 children
between 1854 and the early
1930s.
How the program worked
Children were taken in small groups of 10 to 40, under the supervision of at least one
"western" agent, traveled on trains to selected stops along the way, where they were
taken by families in that area. It was an early form of foster care.
Agents would plan a route, send flyers to towns along the way, and arrange for a
"screening committee" in towns where the children might get new homes.
The towns where they stopped, naturally, had to be along a railroad line. The
screening committee (mostly men) was usually made up of a town doctor, clergyman,
newspaper editor, store owner and/or teacher.
The committee was asked to select possible parents for the children and approve or
disapprove on the day the children arrived. They were to help the agent(s) in the
placements.
When the children arrived, a contract was signed between the Children's Aid Society
and the adults taking the child. This is how the contract read:
Children were taken in small groups of 10 to 40, under the supervision of at least one
"western" agent, traveled on trains to selected stops along the way, where they were
taken by families in that area. It was an early form of foster care.
Agents would plan a route, send flyers to towns along the way, and arrange for a
"screening committee" in towns where the children might get new homes.
The towns where they stopped, naturally, had to be along a railroad line. The
screening committee (mostly men) was usually made up of a town doctor, clergyman,
newspaper editor, store owner and/or teacher.
The committee was asked to select possible parents for the children and approve or
disapprove on the day the children arrived. They were to help the agent(s) in the
placements.
When the children arrived, a contract was signed between the Children's Aid Society
and the adults taking the child. This is how the contract read:
| Terms on Which Boys are Placed in Homes Applications must be endorsed by the Local Committee. Boys under 15 years of age, if not legally, adopted, must be retained as members of the family and sent to school according to the Educational Laws of the State, until they are 18 years old. Suitable provision must then be made for their future. Boys between 15 years of age must be retained as members of the family and sent to school during the winter months until they are 17 years old, when a mutual arrangement may be made. Boys over 16 years of age must be retained as members of the family for one year, after which a mutual arrangement may be made. Parties taking boys agree to write to the Society at least once a year, or to have the boys do so. Removals of boys proving unsatisfactory can be arranged through the Local Committee or an Agent of the Society, the party agreeing to retain the boy a reasonable length of time after notifying the Society of the desired change. |
Group of children with CAS agents
(Photo from the National Orphan Train Complex)
(Photo from the National Orphan Train Complex)
If for any reason, the child had to be removed from the household, the Children's Aid
Society did it at their own expense........ it cost the new family nothing.
The first group of children went to Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1854, and the last official
train ran to Texas in 1929.
Annual reports of the Children's Aid Society prints selected letters from the children.
Glowing reports of a good life with a caring family often closes with a wistful, "If you
should see my brother, please tell him where I am." Charles Loring Brace
By 1860, 30,500 miles of tracks had been laid. Eleven railroads met in Chicago. A
person could leave Boston by railroad and reach St. Louis in three days. By 1870 the
trains ran from the East coast to Omaha, Nebraska.
The history of the railroads is deeply tied to the history of the "Orphan Trains Era" in
America. Railroads were the most inexpensive way to move children westward from
poverty filled homes, orphanages, poor houses, and off the streets. In the west, and
mid-west, Brace believed, solid, God-fearing homes could be found for the children.
Food would be plentiful with pure air to breathe and a good work ethnic developed by
living on a farm would help them to grow into mature responsible adults able to care
for themselves.
Society did it at their own expense........ it cost the new family nothing.
The first group of children went to Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1854, and the last official
train ran to Texas in 1929.
Annual reports of the Children's Aid Society prints selected letters from the children.
Glowing reports of a good life with a caring family often closes with a wistful, "If you
should see my brother, please tell him where I am." Charles Loring Brace
By 1860, 30,500 miles of tracks had been laid. Eleven railroads met in Chicago. A
person could leave Boston by railroad and reach St. Louis in three days. By 1870 the
trains ran from the East coast to Omaha, Nebraska.
The history of the railroads is deeply tied to the history of the "Orphan Trains Era" in
America. Railroads were the most inexpensive way to move children westward from
poverty filled homes, orphanages, poor houses, and off the streets. In the west, and
mid-west, Brace believed, solid, God-fearing homes could be found for the children.
Food would be plentiful with pure air to breathe and a good work ethnic developed by
living on a farm would help them to grow into mature responsible adults able to care
for themselves.