Emily's Story: The Brave Journey of an Orphan Train Rider - Softcover

Clark Kidder

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9780615153131: Emily's Story: The Brave Journey of an Orphan Train Rider

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615153135 ISBN 13: 9780615153131

Publisher: Clark Kidder, 2007

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It seems incomprehensible that there was a time in America s not-so-distant past that nearly 200,000 children could be loaded on trains in large cities on our East Coast, sent to the rural Midwest, and presented for the picking to anyone who expressed an interest in them. That s exactly what happened between the years 1854 and 1930. The primitive social experiment became known as placing out, and had its origins in a New York City organization founded by Charles Loring Brace called the Children s Aid Society. The Society gathered up orphans, half-orphans, and abandoned children from streets and orphanages, and placed them on what are now referred to as Orphan Trains. It was Brace s belief that there was always room for one more at a farmer s table. The stories of the individual children involved in this great migration of little emigrants have nearly all been lost in the attic of American history. In this book, the author tells the true story of his paternal grandmother, the late Emily (Reese) Kidder, who, at the tender age of fourteen, became one of the aforementioned children who rode an Orphan Train. In 1906, Emily was plucked from the Elizabeth Home for Girls, operated by the Children s Aid Society, and placed on a train, along with eight other children, bound for Hopkinton, Iowa. Emily s journey, as it turned out, was only just beginning. Life had many lessons in store for her lessons that would involve overcoming adversity, of perseverance, love, and great loss. Emily's story is told through the use of primary material, oral history, interviews, and historical photographs. It is a tribute to the human spirit of an extraordinary young girl who became a woman a woman to whom the heartfelt phrase there s no place like home, had a very profound meaning.

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About the Author:

Clark Kidder resides in Wisconsin. He is a freelance writer for International publications, and has authored several books, including Marilyn Monroe UnCovers (Quon Editions, 1994); Marilyn Monroe Cover To Cover (Krause Publications, Inc., 1999); Marilyn Monroe Collectibles (HarperCollins, 1999); Orphan Trains and Their Precious Cargo (Heritage Books, Inc., 2001); Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia (Krause Publications, Inc., 2001); Marilyn Monroe Cover To Cover, 2nd Ed. (Krause Publications, Inc., 2003); A Genealogy of the Wood Family (Family Tree Publishers, 2003, and Higginson Book Company, 2007), and A Genealogy of the Butts/Butz Family (Higginson Book Company, 2007). His magazine articles have appeared in The Wisconsin Magazine of History, and Family Tree Magazine. Kidder was the recipient of the Hesseltine Award in 2004 for his article titled West by Orphan Train, which appeared in the Winter 2003-2004 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History. Kidder has been interviewed by numerous reporters for articles in such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune. He has appeared on MSNBC, PAX, and WGN television, as well as numerous radio shows around the nation. Kidder was host of his own television show called Book Talk on JATV, in Janesville, Wisconsin. In addition, he has provided consultation and photographs for documentaries and television shows produced by CBS, and October Films in London, England.

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