First Project
~contextualization~
The Rails of The Orphan Train
English
For my first apollo project I created a poem based off of a rider on the orphan train. My poem was called Riding the Rails of the Orphan Train. my poem was written about Ann Harrison, she was adopted in the early 1900's out in the West. The mid 1800's is when most of the orphan train business began. I included contextualization into my project by using western slang from the 1800's to create more of a feel of that time period and setting. I also included historical context into my poem like the description of the train, and the background of her parents.
poem_for_english-2.pdf | |
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Social Studies
For social studies I wrote a short summary of the orphan train and the reason why orphans were so popular. In the summary it included reasons why immigration had such a big impact on orphans and why it led to the orphan train. I included these topics because it helpedme understand why there were so many orphans and how they children became orphans. I included contextualization into this by seeing the bigger picture than just the orphan train. I looked back at the causes and reasons of why this was such a big problem. Below is the short writing.
The history of orphans and the orphan train.
Orphanages didn’t become somewhat popular until the early 1800’s. Although The first orphanage was said to be called an orphan asylum that was started in 1729. The asylum was started after an indian massacre that caused children to be abandoned. This orphanage was ran by ursuline nuns in a city in Mississippi called Natchez. It wasn’t until urbanization and immigration became more popular, which didn’t happen until about 1830, until orphanages became more abundant. By the 1850’s there were 27 orphanages, both public and private, spread across all of New York state alone. After Charles Brace Loring founded the “Children’s Aid Society” he found a way to get more children out of the orphanages and into homes. In 1853 Loring founded the orphan train. The orphan train was a train that forced orphans on a ride where they would stop at a train station, and they would be thoroughly examined by the potential parent to make sure the child is a good fit. If the child is a good fit, short legal paperwork would be done by a judge. On this ride siblings and family were most likely ripped apart and if they were lucky they would be in the same neighborhood or town. These trains didn’t stop until the 1920’s when the government stepped in. The government provided financial aid to single mothers so they would be able to take care of their new child, or properly get the orphaned child into the system and to a foster care family. States also stepped in and took over the job of the orphanages.Orphanages became popular when urbanization and immigration began in the united states. The united states had a major wave of immigration in the 1880’s into the early 1900’s. In that time over 2 million people entered the United States between 1880 and 1920. Crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the United States because the states were considered a new opportunity for the immigrants. Most Immigrants were poor when they came to the states which meant they were unable to care for their child. This led to their kids going into an orphanage.Other factors of immigration that led kids to be orphans were illnesses. Some that were brought with the newcomers when traveling, spread fast with no medicine. Some of these illnesses include tuberculosis, smallpox, measles, chickenpox, cholera, whooping cough, and influenza. Without proper treatment the illnesses could be deadly. If the children’s parents die, the would go to an orphanage or live on the streets.
The history of orphans and the orphan train.
Orphanages didn’t become somewhat popular until the early 1800’s. Although The first orphanage was said to be called an orphan asylum that was started in 1729. The asylum was started after an indian massacre that caused children to be abandoned. This orphanage was ran by ursuline nuns in a city in Mississippi called Natchez. It wasn’t until urbanization and immigration became more popular, which didn’t happen until about 1830, until orphanages became more abundant. By the 1850’s there were 27 orphanages, both public and private, spread across all of New York state alone. After Charles Brace Loring founded the “Children’s Aid Society” he found a way to get more children out of the orphanages and into homes. In 1853 Loring founded the orphan train. The orphan train was a train that forced orphans on a ride where they would stop at a train station, and they would be thoroughly examined by the potential parent to make sure the child is a good fit. If the child is a good fit, short legal paperwork would be done by a judge. On this ride siblings and family were most likely ripped apart and if they were lucky they would be in the same neighborhood or town. These trains didn’t stop until the 1920’s when the government stepped in. The government provided financial aid to single mothers so they would be able to take care of their new child, or properly get the orphaned child into the system and to a foster care family. States also stepped in and took over the job of the orphanages.Orphanages became popular when urbanization and immigration began in the united states. The united states had a major wave of immigration in the 1880’s into the early 1900’s. In that time over 2 million people entered the United States between 1880 and 1920. Crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the United States because the states were considered a new opportunity for the immigrants. Most Immigrants were poor when they came to the states which meant they were unable to care for their child. This led to their kids going into an orphanage.Other factors of immigration that led kids to be orphans were illnesses. Some that were brought with the newcomers when traveling, spread fast with no medicine. Some of these illnesses include tuberculosis, smallpox, measles, chickenpox, cholera, whooping cough, and influenza. Without proper treatment the illnesses could be deadly. If the children’s parents die, the would go to an orphanage or live on the streets.
Art
My art piece was a painting. With a bit of help, I created a picture of a train driving away into the distance that left a teddy bear behind on the train tracks. This bear was there to represent the child that is left behind with an unknown family being ripped away from any sibling or friend they had. I included contextualization into this painting by leaving the viewer to understand the point of the painting in their own way. I included the sad teddy bear to represent the child and have the viewer comprehend that in their own way.