April 14, 2025

Louisiana Orphan Train Museum | Local Leaders The Podcast #211

In this episode of Local Leaders the Podcast, Jim Chapman sits down with volunteers of “The Louisiana Orphan Train Museum”. This non-profit museum located in Opelousas, Louisiana highlights the story of children placed on orphan trains from the...

Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

In this episode of Local Leaders the Podcast, Jim Chapman sits down with volunteers of “The Louisiana Orphan Train Museum”. This non-profit museum located in Opelousas, Louisiana highlights the story of children placed on orphan trains from the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s with many transported right here in Louisiana.

It’s a deep dive into an often overlooked part of both Louisiana and American History.

You can learn more about the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum via the website below https://www.laorphantrainmuseum.com

Follow them on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/p/Louisiana-Orphan-Train-Museum-100044257255165/

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.399
Hey, everyone, and welcome back to local leaders of the podcast.

2
00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:07.719
And look, we do some things around here that cover

3
00:00:07.879 --> 00:00:14.000
a wide variety of subjects. Today we have actually three

4
00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:16.440
people here, one off camera that's going to be coming

5
00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.160
on a little later on and tell her story. But

6
00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:22.760
for now, I want these two folks across from me

7
00:00:22.839 --> 00:00:25.239
to introduce themselves and tell me who they're with.

8
00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.160
Good morning, Thank you, Jim. And my name is Martha

9
00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:33.640
Obert and I am with the Louisiana Orphan Traine Museum

10
00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:38.119
and Opelousis and I am the board president of the museum.

11
00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.280
Very good and you, sir.

12
00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:44.719
And my name is James Dogey and I'm also a

13
00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.719
associated with the Luision Arpin Train Museum and Opolusis. I'm

14
00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:49.520
a board member and you help you give tours and

15
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:50.079
so forth.

16
00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.280
I love that. And with those last names, you can't

17
00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:57.640
hide that you're from Opelousas. Some good old Cajun names

18
00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:02.320
there for you, South Louisiana friend of mine. Today we're

19
00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:07.439
going to talk about the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum and

20
00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.640
I'll tell you what It's been around a little while,

21
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:13.519
but a lot of people may or may not be

22
00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:17.079
familiar with it outside of your general areas. So our

23
00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.480
goal today is to not only make you familiar with it,

24
00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:24.000
but we want you to want to go visit that

25
00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.400
place and get involved in this history. History is so

26
00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:33.719
important in all aspects of life, and if you don't

27
00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:35.879
discuss it, if you don't talk about it, if you

28
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:39.599
don't put it out there, it will disappear eventually over time.

29
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.719
So let's talk about what it is for somebody that's

30
00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.879
never heard about this either one.

31
00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:53.599
So you know, agreed that history. We all know Jim

32
00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:57.799
gets lost at the kitchen table. It happens in our

33
00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.159
own families, right. And we also are aware that a

34
00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.200
lot of people do not know about our museum, or

35
00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:06.640
they might have heard of it, but they don't really

36
00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:11.120
know what it's even about. So we, by the way,

37
00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:14.400
are only one of two Orphan Tray museums in America.

38
00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:18.759
There's actually a national I believe there's a national.

39
00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:24.199
In Kansas in US. So another charm for Louisiana to

40
00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:29.319
educate people in the local area and beyond of the history.

41
00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:35.159
So this museum has celebrated its fifteenth year last year,

42
00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:42.680
and it is the culmination of many many people, our predecessors,

43
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.479
you know, had the passion and the drive to get

44
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.360
this started through a years and years process of collecting history. Again,

45
00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:56.879
if it's not collected, no one will ever know about it.

46
00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:01.120
So what we do is we are dedicated to the

47
00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:04.759
history of the orphan trains and we dedicate the museum

48
00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:10.039
to the Louisiana Orphan train riders. So this history of

49
00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:15.000
orphan trains dates back to the mid eighteen hundreds, and

50
00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:20.240
you know, basically there was a huge overpopulation of people

51
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.159
in New York City. You can imagine way back then,

52
00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.479
every day there were thousands of immigrants coming to America,

53
00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:34.039
leaving their destitute lives that seeking for better opportunities. And

54
00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:39.280
when you put thousands and thousands of people together who

55
00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:42.120
don't have a lot of means to support themselves of

56
00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.360
their children, then you have problems. So you have an

57
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:51.520
overpopulation of people nowhere to live, overpopulation of people, no jobs,

58
00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:55.759
and you have a lot of diseases and epidemics, and sadly,

59
00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.199
children were cone at the end of the lawn and

60
00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:02.400
were of the most fra They just couldn't take care

61
00:04:02.439 --> 00:04:05.800
of their children. Maybe the parents got sick and passed away.

62
00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.240
It was just bad times. But it's our history and

63
00:04:09.319 --> 00:04:14.120
so there were two faith based organizations that had visions

64
00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:18.360
to help these children. So in the mid eighteen hundreds,

65
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.680
which would be eighteen fifty four to be exact, was

66
00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:25.720
the first orphan train that went westward. You know, you've

67
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:31.560
got this overpopulation of people with very destitute socioeconomic things

68
00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.040
going on in New York City, and a lot of

69
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.279
people were going westward on trains, and so Charles Lauren Brace,

70
00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.399
who founded the Children's a Society in eighteen fifty three,

71
00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:45.839
thought why not put the kids on trains westward. He

72
00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:49.600
believed farming was good spiritually for children. Everybody worked on

73
00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:53.680
the farm, even the parents' own children. But he did

74
00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:57.079
think these children could be a hand to a family,

75
00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:03.240
a help, so guarded sending children westward in eighteen fifty

76
00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:07.439
four on orphan trains. They were typically given over by

77
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.079
townsfolk who wanted them, and they were given over as

78
00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:20.800
indented servants. Our museum focuses on the New York Founding Orphanage.

79
00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.920
It was actually founded in October of eighteen sixty nine

80
00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:31.519
by a sister, Mary Irene Fitzgibbon, and she wanted to

81
00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:35.279
do something to help all the homeless children in New

82
00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:39.720
York city. Thousands of children were left at the New

83
00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.480
York Foundling. My grandmother was one of them. I am

84
00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:48.800
directly descended from a Louisiana orphan train rider, and I

85
00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:52.920
knew my grandmother very well. I actually lived with her

86
00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.839
for seven years in New Orleans. So here you have

87
00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:01.639
this culmination of all these peace people in the Oppolusis

88
00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:06.600
area and beyond the state who have an interest in

89
00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:12.240
this or passion, and we here today want to get

90
00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.040
the word out like we do every day. It's our mission,

91
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:20.240
part of our mission as a nonprofit and is that

92
00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:23.120
we want to inform and educate the public of this historical,

93
00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:30.439
untold history. It was very untold, it was stigmatized, and

94
00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:36.519
we're there to honor this and inform the public, especially educators.

95
00:06:37.360 --> 00:06:40.879
Our children are our future. You know, we believe in

96
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:47.680
educating you know, any age group of students, students. We

97
00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:49.600
have a lot of students who come to our museum

98
00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:53.639
and do projects. We help them. They usually win first

99
00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:56.040
or second place. You know, it's not about winning, but

100
00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:59.399
we all know it's a great subject. So this orphan

101
00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:05.120
trains Sister Irene starts sending. She has thousands of orphans

102
00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.720
in New York City at the New York Family, she

103
00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.720
ends up incorporating her orphanage and build the New York

104
00:07:10.720 --> 00:07:14.839
Founding Hospital in there. And so what she wanted to

105
00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:19.639
do differently from mister Brace was used the Catholic Church

106
00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:23.160
to place the children. So she would go on massive

107
00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:28.240
correspondence with parish priests and bishops all across America and

108
00:07:28.279 --> 00:07:32.399
would ax them to find parents for these children. So

109
00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.439
when her children left, she knew who they were going

110
00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:40.519
to and were they were accounted for, and they were

111
00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:45.399
also visited. She was very well respected in New York City,

112
00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:50.120
not just by the Catholic population, but very admired by

113
00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:53.839
the Jewish population and other denominations. I mean, she was

114
00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:59.319
saving lives, thousands of children. I'm just one of thousands

115
00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:05.279
of people who have descended from these orphans, and with

116
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.360
us trying to get the information out there, excuse me,

117
00:08:08.839 --> 00:08:11.720
we know that there are many many other people like me.

118
00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:16.360
Yeah, and a lot of people that probably don't even realize.

119
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:22.279
Absolutely they don't know because it was so stigmatized and

120
00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:27.079
kept quiet. You can imagine. I know my grandmother was

121
00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:30.639
not proud of being an orphan, you know, being left

122
00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:32.840
at the New York Founding hospital at the age of

123
00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:35.440
three weeks old by her mother, and the mother never

124
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.879
went back. So with this act of humanity, you know,

125
00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:42.919
I exist today because someone took my grandmother in and

126
00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:45.879
then she was sent on an orphan train to Terrbone

127
00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.840
Parish to buy you black Louisiana. And from there she

128
00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:52.840
migrated over to New Orleans, where she ended up meeting

129
00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:53.320
her husband.

130
00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:57.240
Wow. And you know, it's almost it was almost a

131
00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:01.639
very archaic version of fault foster care, kind of like

132
00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:08.000
an early a very early different, but foster care.

133
00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:12.600
Absolutely, it was foster care. Yeah, and she was very visionary.

134
00:09:12.679 --> 00:09:16.519
Sis Irene Fitzgiven. You know what had happened was she

135
00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:20.720
actually had contracted asiatic cholera. She was a teacher in

136
00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.440
New York City and she was actually in a koma

137
00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:27.000
dying and she heard people planning her funeral and her

138
00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:30.159
story is published, you can look it up. And she

139
00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.960
had a vision of children. So she felt like God

140
00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:36.720
was speaking to her and she promised God, if he

141
00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:38.639
would let her live, she would dedicate the rest of

142
00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:42.360
her life to children. So she survives. She joins the

143
00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:45.279
Sisters of Charity of New York. It was a very

144
00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:50.000
well respected Order of sisters at the time, and she

145
00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:53.200
told her mother, superior mother Eily, what happened to her.

146
00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:55.519
She said, I want to start an orphanage. Well, they

147
00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.559
knew they needed to do something. It was bad situation

148
00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.279
in New York City. So you know, that's how her

149
00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:04.240
journey began.

150
00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:09.000
Very interesting. And look, New York City very small, I

151
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.320
mean not a large you know, it ain't the size

152
00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:15.919
of Texas. We've all seen a map, and so you've

153
00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:20.320
got all this influx of children, and so it does

154
00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:25.039
make sense what the goal was there. Mister James, I'm

155
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.279
gonna turn to you for a minute and what I

156
00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:30.519
want to ask you. We talked a little bit off

157
00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.480
camera and you told me an interesting story about you

158
00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:38.200
having a family connection to the orphan trains as well.

159
00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:39.080
That's right, Jim.

160
00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.720
And one thing I like to say is comments from

161
00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:45.320
visitors to the Lesion Orp and Train Museum in Opolis

162
00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:50.360
is one of the most common comments is you guys

163
00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.399
are so so passionate. And the reason being is because

164
00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.320
we have a vested interest. Most of us that that

165
00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:01.840
kept tours and talk about the story have a relative

166
00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.480
that was a New York carpet. In my case, it

167
00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:09.159
was a little bit different. The vast majority they were

168
00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:13.720
on the trains, they were by themselves. In my case,

169
00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:18.519
the fast story goes that my grandparents heard Father John Ingbrink,

170
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.600
the local pastor at Saint Andree Catholic Church, gave his

171
00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:24.759
sales pitch, and by the way, all these priests in

172
00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.440
South Louisiana they.

173
00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:27.000
Heard the call.

174
00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:32.279
They heard how sister was trying to place these youngsters,

175
00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:36.919
and they agreed. And by the way they investigate, they

176
00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.200
went up to New York, many of them, and they

177
00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:41.799
were so impressed with the way things were being run

178
00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:45.600
that they came back down and they talked to their

179
00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:50.840
congregations and tried to recruit foster parents. Well, in my case,

180
00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:55.080
my grandparents at the time had no children of their own.

181
00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:59.120
And the family story is my grandfather and grandmother went home,

182
00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:03.960
they started talking it over, and my grandmother warned a

183
00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.320
little girl. My grandfather warned a little boy. You have

184
00:12:06.320 --> 00:12:08.960
to understand, they were placed ahead of time. They were

185
00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:12.840
pre ordered, so to speak. Sure, and they couldn't decide,

186
00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:15.799
so said, well, let's take one of beach, all right.

187
00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.919
And they weren't biologically related. They were only four months

188
00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.399
apart and age, different last names, and so forth, and

189
00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.919
then the rest of the story is about a year later,

190
00:12:27.080 --> 00:12:30.799
my dad comes along and the rest of the siblings,

191
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.960
and so they ended up with seven of their own

192
00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:36.759
and two of the orphans. Growing up as a young person,

193
00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.639
I knew nothing about this. I didn't know the little

194
00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:43.799
boy because unfortunately he was killed in a hunting accident

195
00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:48.919
at the age of twelve. The girl which became my aunt,

196
00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.679
I always knew something was different about her, you know,

197
00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:56.000
she looked differently, she certainly had a different accent, and

198
00:12:56.039 --> 00:12:58.639
so forth. I was married before I found out she

199
00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:05.240
was Louise come down own the Arpent Trains, and since

200
00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.639
then I've took a big interest in the story. As

201
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:12.200
a former educator, I taught several years of losing history

202
00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:15.360
and so forth. We have a lot of kids who

203
00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:18.240
come on field trips, and one thing we hear all

204
00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.080
the time is that sometimes the foster parents would take

205
00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.279
these kids because they wanted extra workers. There's a lot

206
00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:29.080
of misconceptions about the movement, and we tell the kids

207
00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:32.080
you have to you can't judge people over one hundred

208
00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.120
years ago with today's eyes. The things that were done

209
00:13:35.159 --> 00:13:39.399
at that time were completely different today completely what's going

210
00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.720
to happen fifty years from now when people looking at

211
00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:47.039
our society in the present. But anyway, I would tell

212
00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:50.000
the kids, you know, they would treat just like their

213
00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:54.039
own kids. They actually had to work, you know the

214
00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.240
kids that they think, oh, they just went extra workers. No,

215
00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:59.720
everyone worked in those days, right. There was no going

216
00:13:59.799 --> 00:14:02.320
off into the bedroom when he so phone and so forth.

217
00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:07.240
That's one of the big misconceptions. Another misconception is that

218
00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:12.639
all these kids were adopted. The vast majority were not.

219
00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:17.840
Once again, you have to understand the way things were

220
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:20.879
over one hundred years ago. They were placed with these

221
00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.879
foster parents. They were checked on at least twice a year.

222
00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:29.720
Some agents would come from New Orleans. Sometimes nuns would

223
00:14:29.799 --> 00:14:32.840
check on them and so forth. And you better believe

224
00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.879
that local priests they were keeping an eye out on

225
00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:39.639
those kids. Because their reputation, they had to recommend the

226
00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:45.399
foster parents. So but many cases the foster parents could not.

227
00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:50.200
They had very little education. In my family's case, they

228
00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.799
only had like third fourth great education. And if they

229
00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:57.320
signed any kind of papers at all, in their mind

230
00:14:57.399 --> 00:15:02.840
they were adopting. Of course, the expense of going to

231
00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:06.080
get a lawyer and go into the court, everything involved

232
00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.960
in my case. I know my grandparents. I'm certain they

233
00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:14.840
loved the two orphans they took in and in their

234
00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:19.559
mind they they had adopted them. But that caused problems

235
00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:22.519
when those kids would become adults under Louisiana law in

236
00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:26.080
most state laws as far as inheritance would come along.

237
00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:29.600
So you did cause problems later on, but it wasn't

238
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.799
because they did not want to take these kids in.

239
00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.480
Well, one thing, says Irene, I definitely want to make

240
00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:40.320
this clear too. The last thing she wanted the children

241
00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.440
to appear as was orphans and.

242
00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:47.879
Even back then that even back then.

243
00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:53.440
So and what's really beautiful at the museum is we

244
00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:58.320
have quite a bit of the original clothing the children

245
00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:01.200
had on when they were hands over to the families.

246
00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:01.799
Wow.

247
00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.159
And what's interesting too, Jim, is they all have the

248
00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:09.120
original tags. Well some of them have the original tags

249
00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:09.600
on them.

250
00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:10.759
That's really cool.

251
00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:14.159
It is really cool. And so you know, we're very

252
00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.159
proud of that in the museum because the families haven't

253
00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:21.960
trusted us. But they were given over as indentured servants

254
00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:26.200
as well. They all had indenture papers and that was

255
00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:28.919
how it was done at the time. Just like James said,

256
00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.000
look at the time, and that's how things were done.

257
00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:36.840
And let me ask you this quickly, you know at

258
00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.120
some point and we'll fast forward a little bit here,

259
00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:46.799
because this museum just celebrated fifteen years. Congratulations for that.

260
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:50.240
But that also tells me that prior to fifteen years ago,

261
00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:55.240
there was no Louisiana Orphan Training Museum, at least in Louisiana.

262
00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.000
You only have two throughout the country.

263
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:01.559
It was thorn on the FLOE's bed. Yes, the museum,

264
00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:03.159
the Collection of history.

265
00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:07.359
So how did that start? How did this come about?

266
00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.680
So? Yes? So by the way, our historian of our

267
00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:16.279
board is ninety seven years old. Oh wow, so interesting

268
00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.880
to note though. It's very unique and I do believe

269
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:23.359
God always has his hand and everything. So flow In

270
00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:29.359
hern her husband's father, so flow In her is Awa historian,

271
00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:32.480
and her father in law came on the orphan train,

272
00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:37.920
her husband's father. And the unique thing about flow In

273
00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:42.119
her father in law is they actually formed a relationship

274
00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:45.680
where he actually would talk about it with her, the

275
00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:51.519
experience of being an orphan. That is not very common.

276
00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.839
A lot of them were very hushed up about it

277
00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.440
and never spoke about it. But he actually talked to

278
00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:02.559
her over many many cups of coffee about it. So

279
00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:06.359
that was a unique thing right there, that that relationship

280
00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:09.359
formed in that manner. So he would talk about other

281
00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:14.079
orphans that came to the area. Now, one thing, we

282
00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:18.000
want all the listeners to know. They went all over

283
00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:23.319
the state of Louisiana. They went all over, especially New Orleans.

284
00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:27.039
But historically they did go top Lusis in nineteen oh seven,

285
00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:30.559
three trains in the spring. So anyway, he would talk

286
00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:36.400
about these other orphans. So she started collecting history. She

287
00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.240
would get in touch with at that time some of

288
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:43.039
them were still alive and she would say, you know,

289
00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:49.240
we're starting to collect history information, oral history, artifacts. We

290
00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.960
want to have a vision of starting a museum. Years

291
00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:55.640
and years went by with her doing all this and

292
00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:59.720
the committee they formed a committee. So as you start

293
00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:04.480
collect history, then you have something to show. So then,

294
00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.920
with God's grace and all the efforts of multitudes of people,

295
00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:12.440
the museum opened in two thousand and nine and we

296
00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:19.240
were able to put up stuff, artifacts, photos, and collecting clothing.

297
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:24.640
Interesting thing about the clothing, not everyone has the clothing.

298
00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.279
You can imagine it was tucked away. My grandmother hid

299
00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:32.720
hers in a cedar chest in her shotgun home on

300
00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:36.799
Opelousi's Avenue in Algia's Point, and so you know, they

301
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.559
were very tucked away in various shames. But some of

302
00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:42.799
the families still have the clothing. So we're really proud

303
00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.880
of our clothing in the museum. Everyone who comes to

304
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:50.400
the museum gets an oral guided tour. We're oral history.

305
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:53.759
We incorporated all because we know so many of the families.

306
00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:58.160
So it started with a vision of a committee formed,

307
00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.960
and then from that many just did They didn't give up.

308
00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:05.960
Yeah, and they didn't give up. That's exactly what it

309
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.079
takes a lot of times for this type of thing.

310
00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:12.119
I'd just like to mention too, Jim, that a lot

311
00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:16.440
of visitors, especially to young people, they have that misconception

312
00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:21.160
that the moms who gave these children up did not

313
00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:26.480
want the child. Totally wrong, totally wrong. They were desperate,

314
00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.519
They couldn't even take care of themselves, much less of

315
00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:34.000
newborn and so forth, and they always wondered whatever happened

316
00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:37.480
to that child that they gave up, did they survive,

317
00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:38.200
did they make it.

318
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:38.799
And so forth.

319
00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:42.160
And I'm quick to point out to the young people

320
00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.200
who look at the pictures on the wall, guess what

321
00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.400
the vast majority of those people would have not survived

322
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.440
if that mother had not given up the child for

323
00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.079
a better life. Yeah, and in many cases life itself.

324
00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.079
So we went to make that clear. Did they have abuses,

325
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.200
of course they did, of course they but they had

326
00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:06.640
a lot of safeguards. They were constantly being checked own

327
00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:11.079
by agents or nuns visiting the kids were in many

328
00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:16.240
cases they were extremely afraid when an agent or a

329
00:21:16.359 --> 00:21:19.640
nun would come to check on them, because many times

330
00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.720
they were afraid, they would take the child back. And

331
00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:26.440
in some cases I'll let Marpha maybe mention them one

332
00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:30.079
story in particular about it that actually happened in more

333
00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:30.880
than one occasion.

334
00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:38.119
Yes, it's very true. Which when I envision that these

335
00:21:38.200 --> 00:21:42.640
children were visited, so this is after nineteen oh seven

336
00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:46.440
the children are placed or in that era, sure, early

337
00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:51.079
nineteen hundreds, the trains were in the later eighteen hundreds

338
00:21:51.119 --> 00:21:56.119
as well. They have to come and visit the children.

339
00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.200
They have to go physically out to where the farm

340
00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:03.000
is or the the home, the business. They went to, farmers,

341
00:22:03.079 --> 00:22:06.519
they went to they went all over and to check

342
00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:10.039
on the child. And so you know, you can the

343
00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:11.640
multitude of this.

344
00:22:11.640 --> 00:22:16.960
Task, huge undertaking I mean, none of the conveniences you

345
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:22.839
have in today's life to do that. There was no internet, email.

346
00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:27.680
You know, anyway. So but that's what's so dear to

347
00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:30.720
the families is that they know that their orphan was

348
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:35.240
checked on and typically the indenture papers. And I did

349
00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:40.599
want to mention this. The sisters usually typically would not

350
00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:46.400
do the indenture paper immediately, and I never understood that

351
00:22:46.680 --> 00:22:52.240
till as you go, was always researching it was in

352
00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:56.440
the child's best interest that it wasn't signed immediately because

353
00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:59.200
they wanted to make sure it was going to work

354
00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:02.440
out with the fall to parents. Wow, I'm telling you

355
00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:07.319
they were protecting the child. Yes, and I believe the

356
00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:10.880
untold history part of it, and yes, the stigma, But

357
00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:14.720
at the same time, I really believe in my heart

358
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:18.720
the sisters were trying to protect the child as much

359
00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:21.720
as they could. And I think that's why there's just

360
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.480
not a lot of information out there.

361
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:27.720
I would agree, And you know, there's probably a lot

362
00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:29.880
of people and I'll get into this in a couple

363
00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:32.640
of minutes with our next guest that will be coming on,

364
00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:37.279
Miss Angie. But in schools, you may be sitting there

365
00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.000
thinking right now, I never read about this in a textbook.

366
00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.400
I don't remember seeing anything about this, and chances are

367
00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:48.200
you didn't, and that's because it's not taught in the schools.

368
00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:53.880
And that's a very passionate fight that Miss Angie is

369
00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.640
is fighting to try to get that into in fighting.

370
00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.440
Maybe the wrong adjective there, but she's trying to get

371
00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.400
this taught in the schools because it's important. It's a

372
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:08.519
part of history. It's no different than any other form

373
00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:12.440
or part of history that the United States has been through,

374
00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:15.640
and I'm a big proponent and believer that it should

375
00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:20.200
be taught. Let's talk real quick. So in the museum,

376
00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:24.079
you have artifacts, you have clothing, You even have a

377
00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.799
beautiful mural in there, done by a pretty famous artist.

378
00:24:27.880 --> 00:24:32.119
We do. We have a beautiful wall sized mural painted

379
00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:36.240
by Robert Dafford and it is titled in Historical Moment

380
00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:41.000
in Time, the Orphan Train arrives to Opelousis nineteen oh seven.

381
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:44.880
And it is beautiful. I see it thousands of times,

382
00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:47.039
and you don't get tired of looking at it to

383
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.559
It's always pretty. I can imagine, and it starts getting

384
00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:53.039
more three dimensional with me. I don't know if it's

385
00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:57.000
my vision, but anyway, So yeah, we're real proud of

386
00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:03.680
our mural. It shows, you know, depict the scene, the

387
00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:07.480
heartfelt scene. That's how I want to describe it as

388
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:11.720
the children standing there alone, a lot of them with

389
00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.759
the adults, you know, there with the sisters. And he

390
00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:19.440
did represent the local past priests for the Johnning Gry

391
00:25:19.960 --> 00:25:24.640
and so you know, and it's all oral history. So

392
00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:27.839
typically what we do when they walk in is Okay,

393
00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:30.599
first of all, how much time do you have? I'm glad.

394
00:25:30.720 --> 00:25:33.920
I'm really grateful to James that he told me one day,

395
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.480
He's like, you got to ask them how much time

396
00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:38.599
they have because we could talk for hours and they

397
00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:41.519
might want fifteen minutes, they might want two hours.

398
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:44.240
Sure, we don't know. And Jim, it's amazing. Adults can

399
00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.920
always learn from kids.

400
00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:49.400
Right Always kids are kids are going to be honest.

401
00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.759
They will point out they have their filters right right,

402
00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.559
and they'll point out, okay, why do the kids in

403
00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:02.799
the mural look like adults? And we were like, why

404
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.000
did he do that? And we think that the artists

405
00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:11.960
wanted to depict the children and all the traumasol to speak,

406
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.799
that they had been through. You can only imagine being

407
00:26:14.839 --> 00:26:18.000
loaded up on a train. Okay, in New York City,

408
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.799
you're going to a strange place. In many cases, you're

409
00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:26.000
only four years old, three years old, five, maybe even younger.

410
00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:29.359
And all you're told is we're bringing you to meet

411
00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:34.279
you new mamas and papas. They have they've never seen countryside,

412
00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:39.519
you know, they're used to concrete sidewalks, streets, buildings, and

413
00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:41.279
so forth in New York, and all of a sudden,

414
00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:44.079
you're in this strange place and you're getting down to

415
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:48.920
a place where everyone's speaking a different language, a whole

416
00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:52.359
nother world. So we think maybe he wanted to depict

417
00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:55.680
these kids had seen so much or been through so much.

418
00:26:56.200 --> 00:26:58.559
He wanted to, you know, have that effect and so forth.

419
00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.240
But speaking of the kids to one of the big

420
00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:07.920
topic we touch on we have school children is about bullying.

421
00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:14.119
Bullying is a current popular topic to go into. It's

422
00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:19.839
also been around forever. It's been around forever, and we

423
00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.960
we the human person is always one of the greatest

424
00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:29.400
desires is to feel belong. Okay, I feel like you

425
00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.519
belong with a group. And these kids were coming down

426
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:35.839
to a situation where they might as well have been

427
00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:39.240
coming from another planet, you know, everybody's pointing at them

428
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:42.400
and talking about them and so forth. And they went

429
00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:46.200
to school with with having all this being said about them,

430
00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:48.400
and so they didn't feel like they belonged they were.

431
00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:55.160
They were very shy, holding their stories inside. Only until

432
00:27:55.200 --> 00:28:00.599
these kids became adults and time was was getting away

433
00:28:00.640 --> 00:28:03.240
from them did they begin to open up, even to

434
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:09.160
their immediate families. All educators have had children, cases of

435
00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:12.640
children in their class who didn't feel like they've blown

436
00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:16.279
and so forth. So we try to talk to school kids, Hey,

437
00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:18.400
you see that kid in the corner, you know, say

438
00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:21.160
hello to it. Make them feel wanted and so forth.

439
00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:27.000
We have a little display where we talk about the

440
00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:30.480
two little second grade girls sitting side by side. Yes,

441
00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:32.880
boys and girls, there was a time when two people

442
00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:37.480
sat in the same desk, and it's recess time and

443
00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:40.799
all the kids get up and run outside. Okay, Well,

444
00:28:41.319 --> 00:28:45.960
Ms Cammi, who was the mother of our historian, it's

445
00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:50.279
true story, happens to be sitting there with my aunt Christine,

446
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.599
and it's recess time, and Camis says, come on, let's

447
00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:55.119
go out and play with the rest of the kids.

448
00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:57.839
And Christine says, no, I don't want to, and say,

449
00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:00.519
why don't you want to go out and play? So

450
00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.240
I hate to go outside at recess. The kids pick

451
00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:07.680
on me, and she started saying that they call her

452
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:10.319
all kind of ugly names because she was different, and

453
00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:13.839
she knew she was different because adults would talk at

454
00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:17.119
home about the orphans and the kids don't know how

455
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:20.359
to keep themselves quiet. They bring all that to school

456
00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:23.640
and we'd pick on the kids. Anyway, as the story goes,

457
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:27.319
Christine put her head down and she started crying. She said,

458
00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:29.319
I have no friends.

459
00:29:29.720 --> 00:29:30.279
And at that.

460
00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:39.799
Point this Caamy puts her arm around Christine and says,

461
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.240
I'm going to be your friend. And she was friends

462
00:29:43.240 --> 00:29:45.880
whatever for the rest of her life. So we try

463
00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.319
to teach the kids, you see someone different in the

464
00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.079
classroom or whatever, be your friend to that person. So

465
00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:54.160
there's a lot of lessons that can be learned from

466
00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:55.200
from this story.

467
00:29:55.319 --> 00:29:55.799
And that's.

468
00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:58.240
Very relatable.

469
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:04.519
Yeah, it really is. And you know, I would obviously

470
00:30:04.599 --> 00:30:07.680
encourage one thing from all the listeners out here, and

471
00:30:07.720 --> 00:30:11.319
that is make sure you share this. Sharing is very

472
00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:14.200
important with what we do. The more people that have

473
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:17.359
access to see this on if you see a link

474
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:22.079
on Facebook, share that on your on your newsfeed, because

475
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:25.480
it's what it's all about, as many people as possible

476
00:30:25.640 --> 00:30:28.799
knowing not only did this exists, but a little bit

477
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:37.119
of the story behind it. You're open Tuesday through Friday, correct,

478
00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:38.799
and then Saturday by appointment.

479
00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:39.640
That is correct.

480
00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:40.079
Okay.

481
00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:46.119
We do like when we encourage if you're listening and

482
00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:50.279
watching us to call ahead. We just want to make

483
00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:53.359
sure we can best accommodate you because we do have groups.

484
00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:57.079
We have groups scheduled, but you know, you can call

485
00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:59.920
the museum at three three seven non four eight two,

486
00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.759
and we have an email which is La Orphan train

487
00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:07.039
In two thousand and nine at gmail dot com. But yep,

488
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:09.119
call us up. We'd love for y'all to come and

489
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:13.720
learn about this untold history, very unique history. It's only

490
00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:16.279
one of two Orphan Trae Museums in America. It's right

491
00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:20.400
here in Louisiana. I'm so proud of that shit. Yes,

492
00:31:20.599 --> 00:31:22.319
and so you know it's a gym.

493
00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:24.519
And I like to say too that when I was

494
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:28.200
teaching school, kids have that desire to learn about their

495
00:31:28.279 --> 00:31:31.119
local histories. You know, we're real good about teaching about

496
00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.400
American history and world history, but there's so many stories

497
00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:39.960
out there that you'd be amazed the interest when when

498
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.160
you're talking about someone you mentioned last names. Hey, I

499
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:47.440
might re relate to that person and their ears picked

500
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:51.440
per cup, and they have that desire to learn about

501
00:31:51.960 --> 00:31:54.599
They love to hear about their own families, and that's

502
00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:55.480
one thing we try.

503
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:55.720
To do well.

504
00:31:55.720 --> 00:31:59.920
You're at the gym. We're in a circa nineteen hundred.

505
00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:05.119
It's one of the last Union Pacific Freight depot buildings

506
00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:10.279
left in the state of Louisiana, and it's beautiful. So

507
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:14.079
uh you know. The interesting thing about that is typically

508
00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:17.920
those buildings are bulldozed. They're not ever saved and restored.

509
00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:22.079
I was was restored, thank god. So uh, you know,

510
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:24.599
we have a beautiful building that the museum's in.

511
00:32:24.880 --> 00:32:28.400
I love that, and y'all are doing some phenomenal work.

512
00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:30.400
I want I want to thank you for that.

513
00:32:32.920 --> 00:32:35.400
Yes, so, And it's just been a pleasure to be

514
00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:38.200
able to come and speak of this. And I hope

515
00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:42.000
whoever's out there, if you think you know, or you

516
00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:45.960
might even be descended from an orphan train rider, or

517
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:49.079
you might have heard your grandparents or your even your

518
00:32:49.119 --> 00:32:51.880
parents talk about this. I'm a second generation. I'm a

519
00:32:51.880 --> 00:32:55.559
granddaughter of one you know, if there's anybody listening to this,

520
00:32:55.920 --> 00:32:58.920
y'all need to call this because you never know, you

521
00:32:58.920 --> 00:33:01.279
could be descended from very well could be.

522
00:33:01.400 --> 00:33:04.960
And the great thing too, Jim, is we've gone from

523
00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:09.279
where the original orphans kept everything inside, you know, they

524
00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:12.640
felt in some cases ashamed and so forth, to now

525
00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:16.319
where we have an activity. We call it a gathering.

526
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:20.680
It's like a little reunion in October. And the grandchildren

527
00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:25.279
or the children who are up in age now also

528
00:33:25.720 --> 00:33:27.880
they love to put a little ribbons on that says

529
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.359
they were descending.

530
00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:29.960
Up a newer carpet.

531
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:34.000
Yeah, we've come a long ways in the last several years.

532
00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:34.680
I love that.

533
00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:39.279
And I'm gonna link tons of links in the description

534
00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:43.119
of video, folks, So if you're driving you're listening to this,

535
00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:47.319
or hopefully you're not driving it and watching it listening

536
00:33:47.359 --> 00:33:50.279
to it. When you get somewhere where you want to

537
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:52.440
click on that link, you don't have to write anything down.

538
00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:56.319
I'm gonna have everything for you in the description. You

539
00:33:56.359 --> 00:33:58.799
can go right to the website, learn more about it,

540
00:33:58.839 --> 00:34:02.920
and check those folks out, follow them on Facebook, and

541
00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.279
please share this podcast. And now we're gonna get miss

542
00:34:06.279 --> 00:34:10.000
Angie up and look, I got a great story for

543
00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:12.599
you with miss Angie when she gets up here. So

544
00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:15.559
we're gonna swap off real quick. Don't go anywhere, all right.

545
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:20.159
So now we're here with miss Angie Cornet. How did

546
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:25.679
you get involved in something from Opelousas and so amazing,

547
00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:29.480
pat very passionate about it. And look, y'all we have

548
00:34:29.639 --> 00:34:32.440
been planning this. We had storms come through. We have

549
00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:36.920
one prior playing prior to this, back when storms came

550
00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:39.039
through and then life came through and it was just

551
00:34:39.159 --> 00:34:43.280
sinking back up was difficult. But I credit miss Aerjie

552
00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:45.559
because she she did what you have to do with

553
00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:49.039
Jim Chapman sometimes and that stay on him, you know,

554
00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:52.760
you get somebody irons and those fires and and so

555
00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:56.440
I appreciate you doing that, and I want to talk

556
00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:58.559
to you about your passion for this.

557
00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:02.480
Well, first, ipreciate you. Thank you so very much for

558
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:06.840
doing this. I first heard about the Orphan Train about

559
00:35:06.920 --> 00:35:09.280
a little over a year ago. It was actually March fifth,

560
00:35:09.320 --> 00:35:14.519
twenty twenty four, at a Livingston Parish Retired Teachers Association meeting.

561
00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:17.039
They had a.

562
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:21.000
Presentation of the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum and Martha and

563
00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:25.760
James were there and they spoke, and as I listened

564
00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:29.159
to them do their presentation, it was about an hour,

565
00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:33.800
and I thumbed through or perused through the materials that

566
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:39.920
they had there. I was fascinated by very familiar Louisiana

567
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:48.519
surnames that hit close to home. Riley, Harris, LeBlanc, Breu, brown, Ardowine, etc.

568
00:35:49.880 --> 00:35:53.360
And I couldn't help but think. It really peaked my fascination.

569
00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:57.519
I couldn't help but think, who am I am? I

570
00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:00.960
a descendant of an orphan train writer? And I scanned

571
00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:05.960
across the room at the participants at the meeting attendees

572
00:36:06.039 --> 00:36:10.239
and wondered. Collectively, I looked at them, but individually I thought,

573
00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:15.239
who are you? After the meeting, when several people were leaving,

574
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:20.400
a few of us were talking and a man, a

575
00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:24.519
retired educator with a history degree at angie, have you

576
00:36:24.639 --> 00:36:26.440
heard of the Louisiana orphan train?

577
00:36:27.159 --> 00:36:27.960
He said, I have not.

578
00:36:28.519 --> 00:36:31.760
Why is it not in the history textbooks? I have

579
00:36:31.800 --> 00:36:35.280
a degree in history. Why is it not there? So

580
00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:38.559
my response was, well, I don't know, let's find out.

581
00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:43.840
Yeah, and you became a mission for you in some ways.

582
00:36:43.920 --> 00:36:47.639
Right Over the next year, there was lots of visits

583
00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:51.679
and phone calls and emails and research, and I got

584
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:54.440
to visit the museum, which I would encourage anyone to

585
00:36:54.519 --> 00:36:59.719
go to Louisiana Orphan Train Museum in Ippolusi's Louisiana. Martha

586
00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:04.519
did the tour, and I had an odd feeling when

587
00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:07.519
I was there, And honestly, I have not stopped.

588
00:37:07.519 --> 00:37:08.719
I have very busy life.

589
00:37:08.760 --> 00:37:11.480
I have not stopped yet to look up my personal

590
00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:16.480
history because this has I guess that's on the back

591
00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:19.920
burner right now as this is in the forefront. Sure,

592
00:37:20.679 --> 00:37:25.039
But as I toured the museum and went through Martha's presentation,

593
00:37:25.960 --> 00:37:28.599
I don't know. I told Martha, maybe I don't have

594
00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:31.480
a connection. Maybe I'm not a descendant of an orphan

595
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:35.320
train writer, but maybe as an educator or retired teacher

596
00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:38.719
from Livingston Parish, maybe it's just the unheard.

597
00:37:38.880 --> 00:37:40.280
It's the voices of the children.

598
00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:45.000
Over a quarter million orphans came into the American West

599
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:49.159
over a seventy five year time period. That's two hundred

600
00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:51.360
and fifty thousand children.

601
00:37:51.440 --> 00:37:54.159
Who were placed. Yeah.

602
00:37:54.280 --> 00:37:57.320
Yes, And so if someone's listening and you don't know

603
00:37:57.400 --> 00:38:01.199
your family history, give the museum a call and.

604
00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:03.559
They'll help you. They'll help you do some research.

605
00:38:03.719 --> 00:38:08.559
I think they said that they have done they have Facebook,

606
00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:12.559
lived or different different methods of getting with people and

607
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:16.159
trying to communicate with them and to discover their history.

608
00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:20.280
But anyway, I spoke to the assistant superintendent of the

609
00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:24.719
Leuingston Parish School System. He had his curriculum department to

610
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:29.719
look in the K eight Social Studies curriculum has no

611
00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:34.360
mention of the Orphan Train, no mention so as you

612
00:38:34.480 --> 00:38:39.000
peruse through the Louisiana Content Standards, though, there are standards

613
00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:42.400
there that exist where the Orphan Train lesson could be

614
00:38:42.440 --> 00:38:48.119
aligned with the standards, and that is kind of my plea.

615
00:38:48.840 --> 00:38:53.519
That is what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that history Majors,

616
00:38:53.599 --> 00:38:59.599
Louisiana educators, anyone who's willing to put together some plans

617
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:03.719
that all with the Louisiana standards and share it to

618
00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:07.760
the website that Mss Martha gave earlier at the museum,

619
00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:10.119
if they would share it to that, and then we

620
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:13.360
could get this into the hands of the Louisiana educators

621
00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.280
and ask them if they would include this in their

622
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:19.320
curriculum as long as they're teaching the standards and the

623
00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:22.840
standards are aligne the curriculums a line with the standards,

624
00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:28.480
we could start introducing this integral part of our history.

625
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:33.519
To me, it's part of the fabric of Louisiana, but

626
00:39:33.599 --> 00:39:35.119
it's not yet been woven in.

627
00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:36.639
And if we tarry.

628
00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:38.840
Too long, a great way to put that, If.

629
00:39:38.679 --> 00:39:42.639
We tarry too long, it may be forgotten history. I'd

630
00:39:42.760 --> 00:39:47.400
like to see one an increase increased awareness on the topic,

631
00:39:48.039 --> 00:39:53.519
and kudos to you because this expands the audience to

632
00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:57.079
increase that, to change that awareness. But I'd like to

633
00:39:57.079 --> 00:40:00.239
see it in the hands of Louisiana educators. But we

634
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:03.719
have to go beyond that because this generation of educators,

635
00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:04.760
if it's.

636
00:40:04.599 --> 00:40:05.480
Not passed on.

637
00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:08.599
So I'd like to see the Louisiana Department of Education

638
00:40:10.159 --> 00:40:13.880
add this as a possible topic to teach next to

639
00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:19.480
the standard. And whether you're comparing and contrasting, looking at

640
00:40:19.480 --> 00:40:22.840
the causes and effects of immigration to the United States

641
00:40:22.840 --> 00:40:28.079
at that time, it can fit. I'm sure even in

642
00:40:28.119 --> 00:40:30.960
a third grade curriculum. I'm sure there's a lot of places,

643
00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:35.559
whether they're writing, comparing, contrasting, looking at calls and effect,

644
00:40:36.599 --> 00:40:41.119
looking at primary and secondary resources, all of these things

645
00:40:42.280 --> 00:40:46.039
we can incorporate the Louisiana Orphan Train and align them

646
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:49.320
with the standards. I would like to say that the

647
00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:53.039
Country Roads magazine I visited with them, that was one

648
00:40:53.079 --> 00:40:55.679
of my stops, and they had done an article May

649
00:40:55.719 --> 00:40:57.920
twenty twenty three and they called it one of the

650
00:40:58.039 --> 00:41:02.679
largest yet least understood migrations in human history.

651
00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:07.280
I think that's a you can't sum it up any better, really,

652
00:41:08.039 --> 00:41:09.320
I very well put.

653
00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:12.440
I know you mentioned it earlier, earlier, but I feel

654
00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:17.960
like although the beginning of the seventy five year period

655
00:41:18.719 --> 00:41:21.159
was sort of rudimentary, so.

656
00:41:21.159 --> 00:41:22.480
To speak, I think that.

657
00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:25.280
It was a.

658
00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:29.920
Seventy five year humanitarian effort. It was an early form

659
00:41:29.960 --> 00:41:33.159
of child welfare, if you will. But as all initiatives are,

660
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:37.880
they start one way and they approve improve.

661
00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:38.280
Along the way.

662
00:41:38.760 --> 00:41:41.519
And perhaps I don't know if the story got lost there,

663
00:41:41.960 --> 00:41:45.760
but we want to spread that awareness and we want

664
00:41:45.800 --> 00:41:48.599
to make a change. So it starts with each of

665
00:41:48.639 --> 00:41:51.679
you out there, if you're listening, if you're an educator,

666
00:41:51.840 --> 00:41:54.159
and you would like to all work with you, or

667
00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:56.559
you can work alone, or you can put together a group,

668
00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:01.760
put together a lessoner unit that aligne with Louisiana content

669
00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:06.639
standards and that teaches and brings awareness to Louisiana Orphan

670
00:42:06.679 --> 00:42:10.079
Train movement. Please send it to the Orphan Train newsm

671
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:13.400
website that well, I'm sure Jim will have available. Martha

672
00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:16.760
mentioned earlier. If we could get this into the hands

673
00:42:16.800 --> 00:42:19.960
of all Louisiana educators, that is one that is a

674
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:20.880
great start.

675
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:22.159
And then if you have.

676
00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:26.639
Any anyone that you can talk to with the Louisiana

677
00:42:26.679 --> 00:42:29.960
Department of Education, any of the curriculum specialists, and we

678
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.280
can try to get this topic listed next to the

679
00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:39.480
standards to be taught, that would be a great avenue

680
00:42:39.519 --> 00:42:41.920
to go as well. But I did speak to doctor

681
00:42:41.960 --> 00:42:45.840
sam Hyde, you do, I did. I also talked to

682
00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:49.199
I talked to him and he actually put me in

683
00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:52.960
touch with Michael Martin Center for Louisiana Studies at ULL

684
00:42:53.639 --> 00:42:58.360
and he runs a journal for Louisiana History and anyway,

685
00:42:58.519 --> 00:43:01.719
he in turn me in touch with the writer of

686
00:43:01.800 --> 00:43:05.719
Louisiana Our History or Home, which was done by Alicia Long.

687
00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:10.199
So it just snowballed in one contact. One contact led

688
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:14.400
to another and Louisiana Department of Education contacts.

689
00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:15.079
I spoke to.

690
00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:20.199
The writer of the bay Ubridge's curriculum that's currently being

691
00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:24.360
used in Louisiana in our middle school social studies and

692
00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:30.400
in addition to that, the Claremont Press and Katie Stark

693
00:43:30.519 --> 00:43:34.639
is an education specialist at LPB, was very impressed after

694
00:43:34.679 --> 00:43:38.199
speaking with her. She said that she wanted to create

695
00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:41.960
a landing page where all documentaries and resources on the

696
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:42.920
Orphan train.

697
00:43:44.199 --> 00:43:46.239
Lesson plans could be tied.

698
00:43:45.960 --> 00:43:48.880
To those documentaries and resources as well, but she said

699
00:43:48.960 --> 00:43:52.679
she's the only person in this particular department. She has

700
00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:56.159
other things lined up now and that will be in

701
00:43:56.280 --> 00:43:59.440
the future. It might take quite a while to get there,

702
00:44:00.079 --> 00:44:03.960
but so a lot of buzz has been created and

703
00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:07.760
we'd like to ask everyone to let's not let these

704
00:44:07.880 --> 00:44:11.639
unheard voices of a quarter million million children to go unheard.

705
00:44:12.840 --> 00:44:15.199
We'd like to ask you to hop on board this train,

706
00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:19.440
so to speak, and be a part of a movement

707
00:44:21.400 --> 00:44:25.440
to weave these voices in this history into the fabric

708
00:44:25.480 --> 00:44:26.239
of Louisiana.

709
00:44:26.800 --> 00:44:28.000
How important is this do you?

710
00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:33.519
I think as an educator, Again, I haven't done the

711
00:44:33.559 --> 00:44:37.679
research yet to look back at my family history, all

712
00:44:37.719 --> 00:44:38.719
the familiar names.

713
00:44:38.760 --> 00:44:41.079
I'd like to really go do a deep dive into that.

714
00:44:41.239 --> 00:44:45.280
But I think just being an educator and the compassion

715
00:44:45.360 --> 00:44:48.719
for children, and just the thought of a quarter million

716
00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:54.440
children scared and lonely put on a train, brought to

717
00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:57.400
a new place with a new home and new family,

718
00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:04.559
new people, new schoolmates. It just tug at my heart. Yeah,

719
00:45:04.599 --> 00:45:09.559
and again maybe it's just their voice is tugging at

720
00:45:09.599 --> 00:45:12.800
my shirt, saying, hey, be a voice for me.

721
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:13.639
Be a voice.

722
00:45:14.159 --> 00:45:16.519
And you sure have been. Why I do what I

723
00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:18.960
do a lot of times is because of the passion

724
00:45:20.280 --> 00:45:23.960
that people that come out when people talk about things

725
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:26.639
that are very important to them. You got no skin

726
00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:29.559
in this game, per se. I mean, you could have

727
00:45:29.719 --> 00:45:33.079
went on living life and this wouldn't have been something.

728
00:45:33.119 --> 00:45:36.000
This is work. This is work for these people that

729
00:45:36.239 --> 00:45:41.199
volunteer for the Orphan Train Museum. This is work for you,

730
00:45:41.880 --> 00:45:46.280
and so you're very selfless to do it, and the

731
00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:48.880
passion just comes out when you talk about it. It

732
00:45:48.960 --> 00:45:54.440
means something to you. I love that I can tell

733
00:45:54.480 --> 00:45:57.320
you I will do everything I can possibly do to

734
00:45:58.559 --> 00:46:00.800
help get the word out. That's what I do, That's

735
00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:05.360
what I'm good at. But thank you so much for

736
00:46:06.079 --> 00:46:08.679
stepping outside yourself and just doing something just because you

737
00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:11.000
feel like it's important. And it speaks to you. I

738
00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:11.880
think that's awesome.

739
00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:14.400
Well, thank you for jumping on this train with us.

740
00:46:14.519 --> 00:46:16.840
You got it, you got it. I want to thank

741
00:46:17.360 --> 00:46:21.920
our other guest as well for joining us today, Miss

742
00:46:22.000 --> 00:46:25.800
Martha and mister Jim, and I am going to link

743
00:46:25.880 --> 00:46:29.920
again everything to the description of this episode that you

744
00:46:29.960 --> 00:46:33.400
will need to get started to go check out that museum.

745
00:46:33.719 --> 00:46:39.199
Let's tell as many people as possible about this. Strength

746
00:46:39.280 --> 00:46:42.960
comes in numbers. The more people you have that want

747
00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:46.519
to learn more about this, the better success that you're

748
00:46:46.719 --> 00:46:49.320
likely to see. I want to thank all of you

749
00:46:49.440 --> 00:46:54.559
for listening, supporting, sharing the podcast in general. There is

750
00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:57.599
no meed without all of you, and I appreciate that

751
00:46:57.760 --> 00:47:01.000
so very much. And until next time, I want to

752
00:47:01.039 --> 00:47:05.440
remind you to love your community, support local business, and

753
00:47:05.639 --> 00:47:08.039
keep leading. Thank you very much.