Orphan Trains, 1854–1929, 250,000 children, sealed adoption records, indenture contracts, 1890 Census destroyed, Charles Loring Brace, Children’s Aid Society, New York Foundling Hospital, platform “auctions,” Great Chicago Fire era gaps all collide in one question: where did a quarter-million “orphans” come from, and why do the records keep disappearing? In this episode, we follow the […]