Traveling historical exhibit details rehoming of orphans in southwest Missouri

By Jessica Breger Special to the Monett Monthly

One local library is bringing the past to life in Lawrence County with a traveling exhibit called “All Aboard the Orphan Train.”

The exhibit is currently on display at the Pierce City Branch Library until March 28, when it will move on to St. Louis.

This exhibit tells the stories of thousands of children who migrated to the west and midwest states from large eastern city orphanages. 

The movement began in New York where overcrowding in orphanages had become a public issue in the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s.

Due to industrial growth and the promise of better lives for immigrants, the city saw a population boom between 1850 and 1900, seeing the city grow twice its size from approximately half a million people to over one million. 

According to the National Orphan Train Complex, in 1900, Ellis Island was processing over 2,000 immigrants per day. Immigration reached its highest point in 1907, when 1,285,349 people were admitted to the United States. 

It wasn’t until 1921 that quota laws like we have today were instituted, limiting the number of immigrants to the US each year.

By 1920, New York’s population had reached over 5 million. 

While jobs were readily available for the new arrivals from across the world and across the country, the housing market was not prepared for the growth. 

With many new and existing residents working new industrial jobs that were often low-paying and dangerous, the overpopulation soon became an issue of child care. 

Many working parents found themselves unable to care for their children and having to place them in orphanages while more were injured or died from their labor, again leaving their children to be cared for by orphanages or community members.

While since described as a “flawed” system, the Orphan Train movement ran from 1854 to 1929 in an attempt to rehome children from the crowded cities to rural families across the country.  

Many of these children found their new homes in southwest Missouri — including Monett — after departing the train that stopped in Pierce City during the movement.

The stories of local Orphan Train arrivals are displayed as well as several family owned items from their local descendants, showing the local connections to this part of American history. 

The exhibit is on display at the library, located in the Community room Pierce City Library 101 N. Walnut Street from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays through March 28th.