October Webinar – Home Children and Orphan Trains: North American Child Migration Schemes of the 19th and 20th Centuries – Kate Penney Howard
Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/10/2026
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Categories
Uncover the identity of an Orphan Train rider through a combined use of DNA and historical documentation in this revealing case study.
Between 1854 and 1969, hundreds of thousands of children were transported from Europe or East Coast cities to families across North America, and Australia, often with minimal documentation of their origins.
This session explores the different schemes and follows childrenโs journey from mystery to identification, demonstrating how to navigate placement society records, utilize DNA matches strategically, and piece together fragmented evidence to reveal biological family connections. Youโll learn specialized techniques for researching institutionalized children and gain practical strategies for combining genetic evidence with historical documentation in these uniquely challenging cases.