Home | About TIPS | TRACER Model | TIPS Teams | Submissions | Resources | Student Gallery

Science | Health | Math | Social Studies

History of the Orphan Trains

Cheryl Hill

Around the turn of the twentieth century, children from the East coast were “sent” to the Midwest on trains.  Once these children were relocated, they went to live with local families. 

1.   Many of the children sent on Orphan Trains were orphans, but not all of the children sent on the Orphan Trains were orphans.  What other situations were given for sending children on an Orphan Train?

http://www.outfitters.com/~melissa/ot/ot.html

2.   The “placing out” of children came to a halt in 1930.  What are the two primary reasons this happened?

http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/articles/orphans/or_hist.htm

3.   In 1901, legislation was passed that children could not be brought into the state of Kansas without two items.  What were they?

http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/articles/orphans/or_hist.htm

4.   As Orphan Train Riders began to share their stories, it became clear that their common experience shared three major ideas.  What were these three ideas?

http://www.orphantrainriders.com/riders11.html

Standards

USD 259 8^th Grade Language Arts Standards 1, 2, 4, and 5
USD 259 8^th Grade Social Studies Standards 3 and 6
ISTE NETS for Students Standard 5