The New York Juvenile Asylum (NYJA) was founded in 1851 by a group of prominent businessmen and professionals concerned about vagrancy among poor children in New York City. It was designed to house, educate, reform, and indenture children who were homeless, truant, or convicted of petty crimes in New York City. The NYJA being an alternative to the punitive House of Refuge where more hardened young criminals (incarcerated alongside much older adults) were being sent. Most children accepted into the NYJA were between the ages of seven and fifteen, but children both younger and older were accepted at times. The NYJA relocated to 176th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in 1856. By the end of 1919 over 42,000 children had been admitted to the Asylum. About 6,000 were sent West on orphan trains in what is now referred to as America's Orphan Train Movement. The names in this volume represent over five thousand children who lived in the New York Juvenile Asylum, as well as its House of Reception (where applicable), between 1855 and 1925. The names were extracted from the following enumerations conducted at the Asylum and House of Reception: the 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 federal censuses; and the New York State censuses of 1855, 1905, 1915, and 1925. The censuses are arranged chronologically and the children listed alphabetically for each census. The descriptions vary from census to census; however, in virtually all cases they provide the individual's name, race, sex, age, and state or country of birth. Also included for several of the censuses is the state or country of birth for the parents of each child. In a couple of the censuses the "residence when admitted" (to the Asylum) is listed for each child.
About the Author: Clark Kidder resides in Wisconsin. He is a freelance writer for international publications and has authored several books, including Marilyn Monroe UnCovers (Quon Editions, 1994); Marilyn Monroe - Cover to Cover (Krause Publications, Inc., 1999); Marilyn Monroe Collectibles (Harper Collins, 1999); Orphan Trains and Their Precious Cargo (Willow Bend Books, 2001 and a revised edition via CreateSpace, 2016); Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia (Krause Publications, Inc., 2001); Marilyn Monroe - Cover to Cover, 2nd Ed. (Krause Publications, Inc., 2003), A Genealogy of the Wood Family, (Family Tree Publishers, 2003); Emily's Story: The Brave Journey of an Orphan Train Rider (Bookmasters, 2007, 2014); A History of the Rural Schools of Rock County, Wisconsin (CreateSpace, 2014), and A History of the One-Room Schools of Dane County, Wisconsin (CreateSpace, 2016). Kidder's magazine articles have appeared in History Magazine, The Wisconsin Magazine of History, and Family Tree Magazine. Kidder won the 38th Annual William Best Hesseltine Book Award for his article titled West by Orphan Train in the Wisconsin Magazine of History (Winter 2003-2004). Kidder has been interviewed by numerous reporters for articles in such newspapers as the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. His television appearances include MSNBC, PAX, WGN, Wisconsin Public Television, and Iowa Public television. He has been interviewed on numerous radio shows around the nation, including Wisconsin Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio. Kidder was host of his own television show called Book Talk on JATV, in Janesville, Wisconsin. In addition, he has provided consultation and photographs for documentaries and television shows produced by CBS, and by October Films in London, England. Kidder co-wrote and co-produced a documentary film based on his book Emily's Story: The Brave Journey of an Orphan Train Rider. It was released in 2014 and is titled West by Orphan Train. The film won two national awards in 2015 - a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History, and a Clarion Award. On October 3, 2015, it won an Upper Midwest Regional Emmy Award. In 2016 Kidder was presented the Charles Loring Brace Award from the National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas. The award recognizes the person that has helped preserve the Children's Aid Society's participation in the Orphan Train Movement.