MY VISIT TO THE DIMENNA CHILDREN'S HISTORY MUSEUM!



On Friday August 17th I had the pleasure of traveling to New York City to visit the New York Historical Society and especially the new DIMENNA CHILDREN'S HISTORY MUSEUM!!

I had anticipated this visit since the museum's opening in November of 2011.  The Children's Museum is a museum FOR children on the history OF children and includes a multi-exhibited area where children can learn about the boys and girls who rode the Orphan Trains.  There were many hands on learning opportunities.  My favorite was a large map of the United States.  Children could choose a state, rotate the handle, and read a short story of an individual orphan train rider who traveled to that state.  There was also an exhibit board that displayed actual letters that orphan train riders wrote to The Children's Aid Society keeping them abreast of how things were going for that child in the West.  I have several of these very same letters that Oliver (my grandfather) and his brother Edward wrote in the early 1900's.  If you are in, or travel to the NYC area, be sure and stop by 170 Central Park West to see this unique museum!  BRING KIDS!!!


Also during my visit, I stopped by the museum's library and discovered that a contact to Lukas Weinstein at the Children's Aid Society, will afford me the opportunity to research the CAS records for additional information on my grandfather and his brother and perhaps even a picture!  No known picture of Edward Nordmark exists so perhaps there is one tucked away in his CAS file.  I will be trying to find out......


And finally, I stopped by the Gift Shop where I found my friend Rene Wendinger's Book on sale.  I spoke with the staff of the Gift Shop and was given a contact to see if my two books might be added to the shop's offering on this subject. 

The weather was perfect, Central Park was lovely, and the bus ride was uneventful....a GREAT DAY to say the least!  

A WONDERFUL NEW MUSICAL!! Check it out!

FOR ALL THOSE IN THE MIDWEST........

A wonderful new musical, Orphan Train, is coming to Iowa this summer. My friend RENEE WENDINGER, author of EXTRA! EXTRA! THE ORPHAN TRAINS AND NEWSBOYS OF NEW YORK, has worked with the director of this show for the past two years, and finally it is a reality. Hopefully the troupe, with much needed sponsorship, can bring this play into more states in the very near future.

Fending for oneself as a child is a rough endeavor. Rev. Charles Loring Brace, and the Children's Aid Society, had a vision to send children away from the over populated New York City streets, to find family homes. Especially with frontier families in the West in hopes of achieving a healthier, happier life away from big-city poverty and neglect. Brace’s foresight resulted in the “placing out” of nearly a quarter of a million orphaned, neglected, and homeless street kids by train across America, in what has become known as the Orphan Trains. The transfer was the first emigration plan and the largest mass migration of children in American history. The hope for these children facing a limited number of real life options, and a multitude of challenges during the 1850s through 1930 was simply--- to be chosen!!!!

This summer, an exciting and moving new musical telling their story is coming to Iowa.

Orphan Train (book by L.E. McCullough, lyrics by Michael Barry Greer, music by Doug Katsaros) will make its Midwestern premiere Aug. 3-12, 2012 at the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, 200 N. Main St., Fairfield, Iowa, for seven performances, presented by Way Off Broadway http://wobroadway.com.

Orphan Train is directed by legendary New York choreographer and director Patricia Birch. Ms. Birch has created the musical staging for original Broadway and off-Broadway shows including Grease, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Me Nobody Knows, A Little Night Music, Candide,Over Here, The Happy End, Pacific Overtures, They're Playing Our Song, and many, many more. She is a five-time Tony nominee and winner of Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Barrymore, Billboard, and MTV awards, as well as a Directors Guild nomination and the prestigious Fred Astaire Award for her choreography and direction of music-driven projects ranging from Sondheim to the Rolling Stones.  Set design by Richard Finkelstein

Journey back in time to the turn of the century with the Orphan Train; witness the heartfelt stories of six young orphans who were forced out of New York and relocated by rail to Iowa in this new and sensational musical, based on a true story. Discover a candid and heartwarming family show that embraces dedication, rescue, friendship, abuse, love, separation, and more.

Tickets ($12-$38) may be ordered online at http://www.fairfieldacc.com, by calling the box office at (641) 472-2000 or emailing info@fairfieldacc.com.

Performance Times:

· Friday, Aug. 3 - 7:30 p.m.

· Saturday, Aug. 4 - 7:30 p.m.

· Sunday, Aug. 5 - 2:00 p.m.

· Thursday, Aug. 9 - 7:30 p.m.

· Friday, Aug. 10 - 7:30 p.m.

· Saturday, Aug. 11 - 7:30 p.m.

· Sunday, Aug. 12 - 2:00 p.m.

Having the capability to pay it forward to the next generation, this new musical is a call to address the problems of present day American youth whose childhood is scarred by poverty, homelessness, gangs and addiction. Like Brace, the orphan train team has a broader vision in taking the play into America’s Heartland where orphan trains legacy remains a meaningful part of the cultural landscape, and can serve as a rallying point for renewed social engagement.

As a joint professional and community based approach to presenting historic theater with contemporary relevance, this play is a perfect fund-raising vehicle for organizations; especially ones involving kids where proceeds can help our children attain success and education. The production is a perfect scenario for putting the cast on a train and retracing the route of the original orphan trains through an organized Orphan Train Heartland Tour.

With some support and muscle, the performance of the Orphan Train can make a difference in children’s lives, and leave behind something for people to think about. For more information on how you can make a difference in children facing an uncertain future, and arm them with courage and youthful innocence, sponsorship in bringing Orphan Train across America is exceptionally needed.

Please contact the Orphan Train Heartland Tour to be of assistance c/o Lawrence McCullough at lemccullough@mac.com.

RIDING THE BABY TRAINS

After a successful two week book tour to Kansas and taking time to honor the memory of my Uncle Jim, it’s time to get back to the original intent of this Orphan Train History Blog.

I am so appreciative of your patience, blog followers, but I am now Back On Track and ready to pick up the story where I left off……way back on March 6th believe it or not!!!

RIDING THE NY FOUNDLING BABY TRAINS

Sister Mary Irene Fitzgibbon of the Sisters of Charity opened the New York Foundling Hospital on October 11, 1869 which was, appropriately, the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The sisters had intended to take three months to get the hospital ready to shelter the many abandoned infants that previously had been left on church doorsteps, in ash barrels, on trash heaps and other out-of-the-way places. But on their first night in the building, located at 17 East 12th Street, an infant was left on the steps and the Foundling Hospital was officially OPEN. By January 1, 1870, the original date that the sisters had planned to open their doors, 123 babies were already in residence.

By 1876 the Founding home had relocated to larger quarters; first to 3 North Washington Square, and then, in 1873, to 175 East 68th Street. With an unprecedented number of infants and small children coming under their care, the sisters came to realize that additional solutions were necessary to provide homes for so many children.

Following in the steps of Reverend Brace and the Children’s Aid Society, the Sisters of Charity sent their first train west in 1876. The disbursement of the children through the NY Foundling trains, known as Baby Trains or Mercy Trains, was run differently than the Orphan Trains. Since theirs was a Catholic institution, the nuns were especially concerned that the babies be placed in Catholic homes and raised in the Catholic faith. Instead of sending notices to local newspapers, therefore, the sisters sent letters to the priests of the Catholic parishes in the towns along the railroad. These letters expressed the need for families in rural areas to open their homes to one of the many abandoned babies living in the Founding Home. Priests would read the letter to the congregation during Mass and interested families could then complete a form requesting exactly the type of child that they would like. If a family had three sons, for example, and wanted a daughter, they might ask for a “two year old girl with blonde curly hair and green eyes,” or whatever they thought would be a good fit in their family. The requests would then be sent back to the Foundling Home where the sisters would considerately look over each child (there were thousands at any given time) to carefully select a child that would be a perfect match for the waiting family.

Chosen children would then be “tagged”, that is to say, their name and the receiving family’s name would be sewn into the hem of their dress, and a notice would be sent to the family informing them of the date and time to expect the train’s arrival with their new child.

Once the child had been received, the family was required to complete a “Receipt of Child” form which acknowledged receipt of the orphan as well as promising the Sisters of Charity that the child would be raised in the Catholic faith, sent to school, and given all the advantages of a naturally born child.

Interestingly, many of the babies who rode the Baby Trains were actually adopted by the receiving families whereas many of the children who rode the Orphan Trains were not adopted but lived, rather, in a foster care arrangement until they became of age to go out on their own. Why would this be the case? Imagine you have completed your request form for a baby from the NY Foundling Home and your Parish priest has mailed it off to NY for the selection to take place. What do you suppose you would be doing on your farm between that time and the time the child arrived? Getting ready, of course. You would no doubt be sewing clothes, knitting blankets, having your husband build a crib or bed for the child…all sorts of things. You were probably already “bragging” about your new little daughter to neighbors, friends and fellow parishioners. By the time the child arrived on the train, you were surely all ready to welcome her into your home and your heart. She was already yours! Once in your home, you would naturally want to protect this new relationship with legal status since children could be removed by the sending agencies for any number of reasons.

Families taking children from the Children’s Aid Society Orphan Trains, however, were not anticipating and preparing for a specific child. They were, instead, more likely coming into town to see the New York orphans, consider the options, and perhaps bring a child home to help with the labors of farm life. They may have gone into town thinking that they would be bringing home a boy to help work the fields only to find that most of the children that day were girls. A fourteen-year-old girl to help with the housework might end up joining the family instead.

My friend, and fellow author, Renee Wendinger is the daughter of an orphan train rider. Sophia Kaminsky (pictured above at age 4) was relinquished to the NY Foundling Home at 5 ½ months of age and traveled on one of the Baby Trains in June of 1917 to Minnesota when she was just two years old. You can read more about Sophia as well as the orphan trains in Renee’s book, Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York which is available through her website at http://www.theorphantrain.com/.