The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 74

8 Wednesday, June 12, 1 996 in THE DAILY OKLAHOMANOKLAHOMA CITY TIMES Students Learn About Orphan Train By Sharon Burns Cindy Young's enthusiasm to share information with her students about the Orphan Train Era in American history (1853-1929) became a reality this past school year. Young is a fifth-grade teacher at Washington Irving Elementary in Edmond. She attended the Okla homa Orphan Train Reunion in Tulsa last summer. After meeting orphan train riders and their descendants, hearing about their experiences and obtaining material about the history of the era, thony Ratcliff, replied that his father, Wayne Ratcliff, had shared stories about her great-grandfather, Douglas Irving, riding ah orphan train west twice as a young child. Douglas was born in 1899 in New York City.

He and his three brothers were orphaned "when their mother died about three years after his birth. It is believed the youngest brother was adopted by an aunt and uncle in New York City. Douglas was placed in an orphanage before riding an orphan train to she returned to school and incorporated the information into the social studies curriculum. "We attended an open house at the school with our daughter, Lauren, and noticed a display about the Orphan Train Riders," Tracy Ratcliff said. "Mrs.

Young explained that Lauren would be studying about this historical period and asked if we knew about the riders." Lauren's father, An mm Catch Dad's Heart with our ily after riding the orphan train a second time to Emporia. "I did not know about the Orphan Train Society until Lauren's parents attended the open house," Wayne Ratcliff said. "Mrs. Young contacted Alice Ayler in Oklahoma City who asked me to submit the story about my family." Alice Ayler, orphaned at the age of 9, was among the last group of children placed by the New York Children's Aid Society in 1929. Before being placed in the orphanage, Ayler had lived in a tent with her younger sister and three brothers in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York with only strawberries to eat.

Her mother and grandmother would often leave Alice in charge of the younger siblings, sometimes for days. After her mother signed papers relinquishing her children to the New York Children's Aid Society, FISHING GIFTS! Pens T-Shirts Clocks Candy STREET slippers Alice Ayler Emporia, with his two older brothers. "My father was one of the more fortunate children placed in the orphanage," Wayne Ratcliff said. "He was adopted by the Davies or Davis family at age 3 and then by the Ratcliff family when he was approximately 5 years old." A farm accident seriously injured his leg, causing him to be returned to the orphanage in New York City, where a metal plate was placed in his leg. While his leg was healing, his adoptive mother became ill.

He was then adopted by the Ratcliff fam CANDY 4200 N. Western 521-8337 CO. "OKO'S only locally owned Godlva retailer" The Hatteras Hammock Way! Made with fine quality rope and solid oak spreaders, every Hatteras Hammock is perfect for use on the deck, 'UfeQb. pauo or lawn. Stall Photo by Roger Klock great-grandfather was an Orphan Train rider, about the Orphan Trains with her fifth-grade Lauren Ratcliff, whose reads through a book teacher, Cindy Young.

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not carpat OKC NORTH 947-6248 OKC SOUTH 631-0700 0 ffc The Monogram Linen Cottage VsR yvS 843-5963 6423 AvonJale Nichols Hills Jjfm LftSI STOP CARPET 6924 NW Expressway 720-7867 lilt children who rode the trains to Oklahojna and have the- orphan train riders' history written into history books for children." The Orphan Train Heritage Society; of America Inc. is sponsoring a national effort to identify the' estimated 150,000 children who rode the orphan trains. The society's goal is to preserve the stories and biographies of children placed 'for adoption through the New York Children's Aid Society, the New York Foundling Hospital and the Baldwin Place Mission and Home for Little Wanderers in Boston. TIP: The Orphan Train Riders Reunion will be June 28-29 at the Grandview Hotel in Tulsa. If you are a -descendant or know- of someone who experienced this historical event, contact the society, P.O.

Box 61-60, Springdale, Ark. 72762-6760, or call (501) 756-2780. Ayler's brothers were sent to Arkansas City, Kan. She was then placed in the Goodhue Home on Staten Island where "young girls were taught to talk, eat and behave like a lady." A year later, she rode the orphan train which stopped in Arkansas City, where she visited with her brothers before con-, tinuing on to Marion, Kan. "I was one of the luckier ones because I know my heritage," Ayler said.

"They took away the identity of the younger riders by not allowing contact with the past." Today, much of her time is spent sharing her experiences, educating the public about the orphan trains and trying to locate living orphan train riders or their descendants. "There are two things I'd like to experience before I die," Ayler said. "I would like to identify the 95 SLtiE YLVAN LEARNING CENTER 7 Better grades are just the beginning KOPeav SUPER SUMMER SALE 'Completery-in-canal hearing aid! One of the World's smallest and most powerful. We invite you FREE OF CHARGE, NO OBLIGATION to see if you are one of the fortunate candidates who can wear this MARVEL of MARVELS. FREE Audio metric Evaluation FREE Lifetime Service June 13th, 14-th 15th Save 20 Storewide 3 locations 3 days only Serving OKC area fo 3rookhaven Village 3720 W.

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Groups from throughout the city had met during May to determine a list of five items they thought were most important to the city's future. Improving the city's streets was the No. 1 issue identified. The motion approved by the council was to direct the city's staff to develop a plan of action representing the city government's maximum effort within its legal authority to achieve the top-listed priority. Also the city will present a proposed plan of action to neighborhood representatives at each month's regular council meeting.

At a special meeting May 30, the council refused to vote on the list because of a negative second item put forth by a few neighborhood representatives whose votes on the items "did not follow the desires of their neighborhood groups. The second item on the list of issues was that the city spend no money to support a proposed 18-hole golf course. Council members balked at accepting the item because they have asked for a study to be done on a golf course and it has not been presented to them yet. The rewording of the resolution to "receive" the list rather than to "accept" it apparently solved the problem for most council members. Mission of Mercy Am Vets Pick-Up Service: Makes money to support the organization's work by collecting donated household items and selling them to community thrift stores for resale.

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