Novelist and Humanities Scholar Alison Moore and singer/songwriter Phil Lancaster have combined audio visual elements, historical fiction and musical ballads into a collaborative performance that brings the Orphan Trains, a largely-unknown chapter in American history, to the public.

The one-hour multi-media presentation, Riders on the Orphan Train, tells the story of the 250,000 orphans and unwanted children who were put on trains in New York between 1854 and 1929 and sent all over the United States to be given away. An estimated 1200 of these children came to Texas. The presentation is comprised of original music, an audio-visual presentation of archival photographs and interviews with surviving orphan train riders (one who came to Mineola, TX) and is followed by a dramatic recitation from a forthcoming historical novel about the Orphan Trains by Alison Moore.

After the presentation, there is an informal discussion led by Alison Moore and Phil Lancaster about the origin and demise of the largest child migration in history and the part it played in the formation of the American Dream. The human struggle to belong, to define one's self in the place we call home is exemplified in the stories of these children that have shaped all of our lives. The library version is 1½ hrs to allow time for questions. (a shorter version is available for schools.)The performance will conclude with dialog between presenters and audience on the historical and social significance of the Orphan Trains as well as the artistic choices made to combine literary and musical elements with historical material.