In Northern Kansas, along a stretch of railroad, is a set of three buildings surrounded by sculptures of children.
This is the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia.
The Orphan Train Movement was a supervised welfare program that transported children from crowded Eastern cities of the United States to foster homes. Individuals wanting to adopt a child were interviewed and, if accepted into the program, chose a child or children from the little ones on the train.
This often occurred in rural areas of the East, the Midwest and the West, where there was a shortage of farm labor. Some of the children were welcomed into loving families, while others were considered servants and treated shabbily.
Their stories are told in a movie, a train car, and a museum, where dramatic photos illustrate the conditions they left behind and their lives in their new world.
In between the buildings are statues of actual children. All over the city are also statues of the children; each with its own story.
The orphan trains operated between 1854 and 1929, relocating about 200,000 orphaned and destitute children.
My visit is emotional, thinking of the children bathed, given new clothes and herded onto a train headed for love or hard labor. Each child and adoptive parent equals a different story.
For more information on the Orphan Train Movement, the many stories told here, and visitation information, click here.
