BATON ROUGE, La. — The Old Governor’s Mansion will host a special presentation by the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4. This free event, “Louisiana Orphan Trains: America's Forgotten Journey of Hope and Hardship,” will feature presentations by Martha Aubert, President of the Louisiana Orphan Train Society, and board member James Douget.
The Orphan Train Movement of the mid-1800s was a mass relocation of orphaned children from eastern American cities to more rural communities in the South, Midwest, and West. By 1929, an estimated 200,000 children were relocated across the country by rail.
Aubert is the granddaughter of train rider Emily Kingsley Bergeron Von Bodungen, and Douget is the nephew of train riders Christina Geitz Douget West and Dominic Yenley Douget. The Louisiana Orphan Train Museum will have photographs on display and a reception will immediately follow the presentations.
The Old Governor’s Mansion, along with the Secretary of State’s eight other museums, brings the stories of Louisiana and its people to life through exhibitions and educational programming. Admission to the museum is free, and the museum is open 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 12-4 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. For more information about the Old Governor’s Mansion, visit www.laogm.org or call 225-342-9778.