Aurora Historical Society presents program on Orphan Trains

A history of the Orphan Train movement, a social experiment viewed by some as the forerunner of modern-day foster care, will take center stage this weekend in Aurora.

Carol Chandler of the Lee County Genealogical Society presents a program on “The Orphan Trains, The History and Human Side of the Story” at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, at the Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place, Aurora.

The movement took hold from 1854 to 1929, when the rural life was romanticized. Americans thought orphaned, abandoned or homeless children from the city streets of the East should be taken away to start a new life and help settle the country in wholesome, religious homes in the Midwest. More than 200,000 children rode an “Orphan Train” to new lives.

Today, the Orphan Train movement is seen as the forerunner of modern-day foster care. General information can be found at the National Orphan Train Complex website, www.orphantraindepot.com.

Chandler has researched more than 200 children who arrived in northwestern Illinois during that period.

Special guest at the lecture will be Aurora author Jo Fredell Higgins, whose recent novel, “A Song For Cecilia,” is built upon the life of a fictional Orphan Train child. Copies of her book will be available for sale.

The cost of the lecture is $5, $3 for Aurora Historical Society members. Ticket sales at the door only. For details, visit aurorahistory.net.Free parking is available at Stolp and Downer Place by having your ticket stamped at the Art and History Center gift shop.