Mize speaks to Friends of Library

The February meeting of the Friends of Van Zandt County Library was held Feb. 13. The program was a presentation on “The Orphan Trains” presented by Benja Mize.

The attendees learned that the Orphan Trains ran from 1850 to 1932 and over 250,000 children were put on the trains as “riders”. Mize stated that the children started out on the train in New York City and were taken off the trains at each stop to see if anyone would take them.

“The children that were not chosen were put back on the trains to ride to the next stop and it all started over again. Siblings were most of the time separated. Many of the children were taken as no more than laborers for the families
that took them in.”

The next meeting will be Monday, March 13 and the program will be a Disaster Relief presentation with John and Brenda Fuller.

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