Orphan Train Museum

Title

Orphan Train Museum

Artist

Seaux-N-Seau Soileau

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Orphan Train Museum in Opelousas, Louisiana was built to tell the story of thousands of children who were orphaned or whose parents fell into such desperate times that they gave up their children in hopes of giving them a better life. About 2,000 children from The New York Foundling Hospital came to Louisiana on the Orphan Train. The Sisters of Charity who founded the The New York Foundling Hospital were searching for homes for the children in their care.
Father John Engberink of St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas, Louisiana asked his parishioners to open up their homes to these children. Not just his parishioners but the whole community opened not only their homes but their hearts as well. The orphans found not just a house to live in but families who welcomed them. Many couples were childless. Other families had loss children in the devastating floods of 1927. French speaking families were looking for English speaking children to help teach their children to learn the English language. Their were so many reasons for adopting the orphan train riders.
My parents spoke highly of the children who arrived by the Orphan Train. They told me that the children from New York excelled in school because English was their first language . Many French speaking children befriended the orphans. French was the first Language of many in the Opelousas area. Children in Louisiana were being forced to speak only English on school property. Both the New York and the Cajun and Creole French speaking children benefited from these friendships.
Many of the orphans were adopted by families in the Acadiana region of South Central Louisiana. Some inherited Cajun and Creole names from their adopted families. Other children kept their original family names. Some children were not legally adopted but still found loving homes.
Many artifacts of the children who rode the train are found in the museum. Children and grandchildren of the original riders are often found conducting tours of the museum. A beautiful mural of the children's arrival into Opelousas can be found as well. Statues of Father Engberink and a nun from the Sisters of Charity and a couple of the riders are in a small garden on the south side of the museum.
The museum is located at 828 E. Landry Street in Opelousas, Louisiana and is the second oldest museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Orphan Trade Riders in the United States.
The building was originally the Union Pacific Freight Depot and was located on Court Street in Opelousas. It is one of the last depots of its kind in Louisiana. It was donated to the City of Opelousas in 1990 and became part of Le Vieux Village a historical village and tourist attraction which has several buildings of historical significance to the Opelousas area.
Featured in the following Fine Art America's groups:
Catholic Art Gallery
No Place Like Home

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June 7th, 2017

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