Riders on the Orphan Train

Novelist and Humanities Scholar Alison Moore and singer/songwriter Phil Lancaster have combined audio visual elements, historical fiction and musical ballads into a collaborative performance that brings the Orphan Train movement, a largely-unknown chapter in American history, to public awareness.

The presentation tells the story of the 250,000 orphans and unwanted children who were put on trains in New York between 1854 and 1929 and sent all over the United States to be given away. The presentation is comprised of original music, an audio-visual presentation of archival photographs and interviews with two surviving orphan train riders and is followed by a reading from the new novel "Riders on the Orphan Train" by Alison Moore.

After the presentation, there is an informal discussion about the origin and demise of the largest child migration in history and the part it played in the formation of the American Dream. The presenters will take questions from the audience and will invite relatives and acquaintances of Orphan Train Riders to share their stories.

Alison Moore and Phil Lancaster developed the outreach program, Riders on the Orphan Train for The Orphan Train Heritage Society of America, Inc. in Springdale, Arkansas in 1997. This is the official outreach program for the National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center in Concordia, KS.
Funded in part or in whole with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage fund.