Genealogy Guide: United States

The first American orphanage was founded in New Orleans in 1729. However, for the next century or so, orphanages were only established sporadically, as most orphaned or abandoned children were either left to live on the streets or placed in public almshouses, where they lived among dependent adults, some of whom were criminals. Beginning in the mid-19th century, the influx of immigrants and, especially, the Civil War yielded an unprecedented explosion in the number of dependent children in the U.S., a crisis that resulted in both public policy reforms that mandated these children be placed in separate institutions and the proliferation of orphanages. In New York City, for example, the number of orphanages “grew from eighteen in 1860 to thirty-one in 1870, and to fifty-six by 1895” (Friedman, Reena Sigma. These are Our Children. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1994, p. 3). In the late 19th century, social reformers began to call attention to issues of crowding and substandard treatment in orphanages and to advocate for de-institutionalizing the care of orphaned, neglected, and abused children. Following World War II, most states began to replace orphanages primarily with foster care and adoption and, to a lesser extent, with smaller temporary residential treatment centers or group homesfor special needs children. By the late 1960’s, the traditional orphanage system was virtually defunct.

Sources:
Bernard, Jacqueline. The Children You Gave Us (NY: Jewish Child Care Association of NY, 1972). American Jewish Historical Society   HV 883 .N7 B47 and YIVO   000076777
Bogen, Hyman. The Luckiest Orphans (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1992). American Jewish Historical Society   HV 995 .N52 H433 1992 and YIVO   000085054
Friedman, Reena Sigman. These are Our Children: Jewish Orphanages in the United States (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England for Brandeis University Press, 1994). Genealogy Institute   HV 983 .F75 1994

Orphanages were operated by state and local governments, religious groups, and private benefactors. The types, extent, and locations of records kept by each of these groups vary considerably. To find orphanage records, first determine what orphanages existed in the region and time period your ancestors lived. Local histories and directories often contain this information. The Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni website featured a list of Jewish orphanages in the U.S. by state and city (with contact info and/or links for some).  This website is no longer available online, but a paper copy is available at the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute:

Spears-Soloff, Marge. Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni: Including Jewish Orphanages in the United States (1997-2008). Genealogy Institute   HV 983 .S64

Once you locate the orphanage, determine if it is still in operation. If the orphanage or a successor is still operating, it will likely have records. The records of a state-operated establishment may be held by the state archivist or the state’s Department of Social and Welfare Services. Records of closed orphanages operated below the state level may be held by the town, city, or county clerk, the local agency responsible for currently operating orphanages, or a local historical society or research library. If the orphanage was operated by a religious group, itsrecords may be found at the group’s headquarters. Court records of placement can sometimes be substituted for incomplete or nonexistent orphanage records.

Each of the orphanages listed here has a different institutional history, but they all eventually merged with the Jewish Childcare Association of New York (see below section for more details). Note: All records dated after 1925 are restricted for privacy reasons.

• Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum. Holdings include admission and discharge records, 1879- 1960. A searchable index of the 1879-1953 records is available at http://cjh.org/p/61. American Jewish Historical Society   I-230
• Hebrew Infant Asylum of the City of New York. Holdings include admission and discharge records, 1895-1908. American Jewish Historical Society   I-166
• Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York. Holdings include applications for admission, admission and discharge records, and residents’ public school, medical, and conduct records, 1860-1942. A searchable “Index of Children, 1860-1900” is available on the CJH website. American Jewish Historical Society   I-42
• Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of New York. Holdings include admission and discharge records, 1898, 1907-1942. American Jewish Historical Society   I-43
• Home for Hebrew Infants. Holdings include admission and discharge records, 1922-1943. American Jewish Historical Society   I-232

The Jewish Childcare Association is the successor to:

The Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni website featured a number of resources relevant to orphan research, including a database of orphans and foundlings buried in New York area cemeteries and lists of children living in Jewish orphanages as enumerated in various federal and state censuses.  This website is no longer available online, but a paper copy is available at the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute:

Spears-Soloff, Marge. Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni: Including Jewish Orphanages in the United States (1997-2008). Genealogy Institute   HV 983 .S64

The Orphan Train Movement was conceived by the Rev. Charles Loring Brace of the New York Children’s Aid Society with the aim of taking orphaned, abandoned, abused, and runaway children off the streets of the city and finding them homes in more rural areas in the Midwest and West. On September 20, 1854, the Children's Aid Society sent out the first train of 46 children, all of whom were placed in homes. Soon afterwards, other charities in New York and Boston followed suit, and, by the end of the 1800’s, charities in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois began sending children to states farther west. Between 1854 and 1929, an estimated 200,000 children were relocated to new homes via the Orphan Trains. “This period of mass relocation of children in the United Statesis widely recognized as the beginning of documented foster care in the United States” (“Orphan Train History.” National Orphan Train Complex, Inc. n.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2012.).
Sources: “Orphan Train History.” National Orphan Train Complex, Inc.; “The Orphan Trains.” The Children’s Aid Society. ; “The Orphan Trains: About the Program” PBS’ American Experience.

Locating Orphan Train
Records Records of Orphan Train transfers may be found at the charitiesthat participated in the project or in the deed books, justice of the peace dockets, guardians’ records, county order records, and board of supervisors’ minutes of the courthouses in the counties that received the children. County deed books are especially useful, as they were commonly used to record adoptions(usually males under ten and females) and apprenticeships (usually males ten and over).

The New York Children’s Aid Society & The New York Foundling Hospital
The New York Children’s Aid Society and the New York Foundling Hospital were the most prolific participants in the Orphan Trains project.

Records of the Children’s Aid Society and the Foundling Hospital are housed at the New York Historical Society. For guides to these collections, which include Orphan Train records.

Many of the children who lived in these charities’ boarding facilities were later transferred to adoptive families via the Orphan Trains. Thus, one potential source of information on Orphan Train riders is the census records for these institutions. The following census record indexes are not available at the Center for Jewish History (please use Worldcat.org to find the nearest locations for these books):

• Inskeep, Carolee R. The Children's Aid Society of New York: An Index to the Federal, State, and Local Census Records of Its Lodging Houses, 1855-1925. Baltimore, Md: Clearfield Co., 1996.
• Inskeep, Carolee R. The New York Foundling Hospital: An Index to Its Federal, State, and Local Census Records (1870-1925). Baltimore, Md: Printed for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co, 1995.

The National Orphan Train Complex
The National Orphan Train Complex is a museum and research center dedicated to preserving the history of the Orphan Train Movement. They maintain a rider registry and online resources.