Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: June 13, 2006
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FGG66Q
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,753 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Pbs Release Date: 05/04/2009 Run time: 60 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the remarkable story of the orphan trains and the children who rode them, November 18, 2009

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: American Experience - The Orphan Trains (DVD)

American Experience - The Orphan Trains tells the story of how The Children's Aid Society was formed in 1853 to help poor and often homeless children in New York City get a better life by sending them on long train rides to more rural parts of our nation. It was thought that if the children could escape the city they would have a better chance at a happy, normal life. We see how Charles Loring Brace founded the society when the only help available for children was a type of "orphan asylum" in which the children were taught skills so that they could earn money.

Brace desperately wanted a better way to help these children; he and his peers did not believe that the orphan asylums were teaching skills valuable enough to truly help the children. This program changed the lives of so many children--between 1853 and 1929, more than 150,000 abandoned, abused and orphaned children were taken from a life of poverty usually while living on the streets and begging for money, and sent, more often than not, to relatively stable homes where they could have a much better sense of family.

On the down side, however, children were essentially rounded up (the film doesn't say exactly how) and sent forcibly to other parts of the country by train where they hopefully had a real chance at a better childhood. Of course there's more to the story but I don't want to spoil it for you so I'll leave the rest out. You can rest assured that if this topic interests you, you won't be bored watching this film!

The real electricity of the film comes from invaluable interview footage in which now elderly people who rode orphan trains tell their most personal stories about their experiences both good and bad. The emotions these people display truly moved me and I could see that in some ways The Children's Aid Society had helped some while it had been insensitive to the emotional needs of other children.

The DVD comes with few extras; there is a type of advertisement for other features of the Public Broadcasting System website but unfortunately that's about it. However, this film is so good I can overlook it. Another reviewer mentions the fact that the photos and stories of these children are about white children only--what happened to African-American children and children of other races? I would have liked to know.

American Experience-The Orphan Trains is quite a powerful story and I recommend this for anyone interested in this topic.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Orphan Train DVD, January 30, 2010

By 

Frances Palmer (Southern Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Experience - The Orphan Trains (DVD)

I am a Special Education Teacher of high school age students. I used this DVD as a concrete learning tool after we had read in the textbook about this event happening in our country many years ago. This movie is of such high quality that it helped my students realize that these young people really existed and how they felt going through this experience. In turn, my students also realized how fortunate they are to have their own families that love them and take care of them. Many very important life lessons are taught in this film. My students were so quiet and focused while viewing this film. They also learned about how our society has progressed and how much better children are cared for in this country at this time. They also learned the skill about caring for others who can't take care of themselves. I highly recommend this film to all Social Studies teachers. It is one of the important success stories of our country and how conditions for children have greatly improved. Frances Palmer

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Orphan Trains, August 29, 2009

By 

Lynne M. "Lynnella" (KY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Experience - The Orphan Trains (DVD)

This was an amazing look at life in the late 1800's to early 1900's. My Grandfather was one of those orphans. He died before I was born, so I never got to meet him, but felt a connection with him while watching this DVD. It gave me a sense of what he must have gone through during his early life, and an appreciation of his adoptive parents, whom I also didn't know. They provided a good home for him, and a stable environment for him to grow up in. My Mother told me that he had been adopted, but I'm not sure she even knew the circumstances. A distant cousin recently told me about it. Thank you so much for providing this DVD.