Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

LAST TRAIN HOME, an orphan train story, is a Dickensian novella about cultural identity and family history set during the nineteenth century at a time when America received an enormous influx of immigrants, and a quarter of a million children whose fates would be determined by pure luck were sent west from East Coast cities by orphan train. Would they be adopted by kind and loving families, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
The narrative highlights a little known, but historically significant moment in our country’s past by tracing the individual journeys of two children, Johnny and Sophia, bringing about the distinction between the “placing out” of these children to find families and homes. History, culture, and geography celebrate the survival of these children, by weaving individual stories into triumph over tribulation building strength of mind and character into an incredible reserve.
Johnny’s story tells the journey of a young boy making his way from Europe to America as a victim under the padroni system, to an American immigration process. Finally Johnny’s life on the streets of New York lands him in an orphanage with others like himself, until he is dispatched West aboard an orphan train through the New York Children’s Aid Society.
Sophia’s fascinating chronicle tells how a child becomes a victim of circumstance at the New York Foundling, followed by her journey aboard an orphan train yearning for acceptance and her journey to find it all. A heart-wrenching Cinderella story gives way to chance, abuse, and resilience of mind as Sophia’s survival is celebrated by way of individual expressions of love, living by love, and giving of it generously.
Author, Renée Wendinger (Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York), is an eminent orphan train historian, and an honored essayist supporting historical prose. She has researched the epoch of the orphan trains for decades. She is the honorary president of Orphan Train Riders of New York, and an established sought after public speaker on the subject of the orphan trains. Her protagonist, Sophia, in Last Train Home, an orphan train story, happens to be the author’s mother, substantiating first hand information. Johnny, a lead character in the story, exposes his life through chronicles of hand written journals owing to Wendinger’s authentic orphan train knowledge, research, and quality assurance from Johnny's family, John, Clarice and Sam.

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Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

LAST TRAIN HOME, an orphan train story, is a Dickensian novella about cultural identity and family history set during the nineteenth century at a time when America received an enormous influx of immigrants, and a quarter of a million children whose fates would be determined by pure luck were sent west from East Coast cities by orphan train. Would they be adopted by kind and loving families, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
The narrative highlights a little known, but historically significant moment in our country’s past by tracing the individual journeys of two children, Johnny and Sophia, bringing about the distinction between the “placing out” of these children to find families and homes. History, culture, and geography celebrate the survival of these children, by weaving individual stories into triumph over tribulation building strength of mind and character into an incredible reserve.
Johnny’s story tells the journey of a young boy making his way from Europe to America as a victim under the padroni system, to an American immigration process. Finally Johnny’s life on the streets of New York lands him in an orphanage with others like himself, until he is dispatched West aboard an orphan train through the New York Children’s Aid Society.
Sophia’s fascinating chronicle tells how a child becomes a victim of circumstance at the New York Foundling, followed by her journey aboard an orphan train yearning for acceptance and her journey to find it all. A heart-wrenching Cinderella story gives way to chance, abuse, and resilience of mind as Sophia’s survival is celebrated by way of individual expressions of love, living by love, and giving of it generously.
Author, Renée Wendinger (Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York), is an eminent orphan train historian, and an honored essayist supporting historical prose. She has researched the epoch of the orphan trains for decades. She is the honorary president of Orphan Train Riders of New York, and an established sought after public speaker on the subject of the orphan trains. Her protagonist, Sophia, in Last Train Home, an orphan train story, happens to be the author’s mother, substantiating first hand information. Johnny, a lead character in the story, exposes his life through chronicles of hand written journals owing to Wendinger’s authentic orphan train knowledge, research, and quality assurance from Johnny's family, John, Clarice and Sam.

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Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

by Renee Wendinger
Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

Last Train Home: An Orphan Train Story

by Renee Wendinger

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Overview

LAST TRAIN HOME, an orphan train story, is a Dickensian novella about cultural identity and family history set during the nineteenth century at a time when America received an enormous influx of immigrants, and a quarter of a million children whose fates would be determined by pure luck were sent west from East Coast cities by orphan train. Would they be adopted by kind and loving families, or would they face a childhood and adolescence of hard labor and servitude?
The narrative highlights a little known, but historically significant moment in our country’s past by tracing the individual journeys of two children, Johnny and Sophia, bringing about the distinction between the “placing out” of these children to find families and homes. History, culture, and geography celebrate the survival of these children, by weaving individual stories into triumph over tribulation building strength of mind and character into an incredible reserve.
Johnny’s story tells the journey of a young boy making his way from Europe to America as a victim under the padroni system, to an American immigration process. Finally Johnny’s life on the streets of New York lands him in an orphanage with others like himself, until he is dispatched West aboard an orphan train through the New York Children’s Aid Society.
Sophia’s fascinating chronicle tells how a child becomes a victim of circumstance at the New York Foundling, followed by her journey aboard an orphan train yearning for acceptance and her journey to find it all. A heart-wrenching Cinderella story gives way to chance, abuse, and resilience of mind as Sophia’s survival is celebrated by way of individual expressions of love, living by love, and giving of it generously.
Author, Renée Wendinger (Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York), is an eminent orphan train historian, and an honored essayist supporting historical prose. She has researched the epoch of the orphan trains for decades. She is the honorary president of Orphan Train Riders of New York, and an established sought after public speaker on the subject of the orphan trains. Her protagonist, Sophia, in Last Train Home, an orphan train story, happens to be the author’s mother, substantiating first hand information. Johnny, a lead character in the story, exposes his life through chronicles of hand written journals owing to Wendinger’s authentic orphan train knowledge, research, and quality assurance from Johnny's family, John, Clarice and Sam.


Product Details

BN ID: 2940151855563
Publisher: Renee Wendinger
Publication date: 03/03/2015
Sold by: Smashwords
Format: eBook
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Minnesota author, Renée Wendinger, is a history essayist who writes for a wide demographic spectrum of readers. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the NIEA Winner of Excellence in history for her published nonfiction, Extra! Extra! The Orphan Trains and Newsboys of New York, and the Pinnacle winner for her historical novella, Last Train Home, an orphan train story. As an avid historian, Renée has researched the epoch of the largest mass migration of children to occur in American history for decades and is regard as an expert on the subject. Her mother, Sophia (Kaminsky) Hillesheim, 1917 orphan train rider, was one of the children of the orphan trains taking part in a phenomenal journey from New York City to the Midwest. Inspired by her mother, Renée embraces authoritive research with compelling stories from the people who “made history” aboard the orphan trains in her book Last Train Home, an orphan train story.

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