The Bartlesville Public Library will present “Riders on the Orphan Train” from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. on Monday, March 30th in the Library’s Meeting Room A, located at 600 S. Johnstone Ave.

This one-hour multimedia presentation includes live music by Phillip Lancaster and Alison Moore, a video montage with archival photographs and interviews of survivors and a dramatic reading of the 2012 novel “Riders on the Orphan Train” by award-winning author Alison Moore.

Bartlesville Public Library is only one of a few libraries in the state to offer this free public presentation, which is funded by the Oklahoma Humanities Council. This program is the official outreach program of the National Orphan Train Complex Museum and Research Center based in Concordia, Kan., whose mission is to raise awareness and preserve stories about the orphan train movement.

Lancaster and Moore’s program relates the compelling true story of the thousands of orphans and homeless children who were relocated across the country prior to child welfare reforms and the current foster care system. Between 1854 and 1929, more than 250,000 orphans and unwanted children were taken out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. At least 500 children were placed in new homes in Oklahoma. This system was originally organized by Methodist minister Charles Loring Brace and the Children’s Aid Society of New York. Many of the children were not abandoned or orphaned, but were “surrendered” by their parents who were too impoverished to care for them. This 76- year experiment in child relocation is filled with the entire spectrum of human emotion, from heartbreak to happy endings and reveals a great deal about the successes and failures of the American Dream.

Phil Lancaster studied art and music at L’Ecole De Beaux Arts in Angers, France. He has performed in a bluegrass band and released several CDs with “Still on the Hill,” an acoustic quartet group which performed at national and international festivals. Alison Moore is a former Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing at the University of Arizona and is a current Humanities Scholar in Texas. She has written several books and received several awards, including the Katherine Ann Porter Prize for Fiction. Both Lancaster and Moore received the 2012 Charles Loring Brace Award for helping to preserve the stories of the Orphan Train Riders.

Although the program is about children, it is designed for all ages and to inspire and inform attendees about this little-known part of our history. Local relatives and acquaintances of Orphan Train Riders are especially invited to attend and share their stories with the audience. This program is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact the Reference Desk at 918-338-4169.