A room full of SMU students and adults witnessed Alison Moore and Phil Lancaster’s “Riders on the Orphan Train” Wednesday night at the DeGolyer Library.
The multimedia performance, which Moore said was a fancy way of calling it live music, told the story of a nomadic movement. The event was hosted by the Writer’s Group and SMU’s English Department.
The story shows how between 1854 and 1929 more than 200,00 orphans and unwanted children were taken out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. The movement, organized by New York minister Charles Loring Brace, was designed to get rid of homeless street children.
“He saved my life,” said Elliot Bobo.
Brace’s mission was to find new homes in the developing Midwest. The last train left in 1929 and ended in Sulphur Springs, Texas.
“Maybe I’ll be riding forever, riding on the Orphan Train,” was sung as photographs of orphans and the train ride were shown.
“I wanted to live the life Alman Bobo wanted me to live. And I think I did,” said Elliot Bobo, recalling thoughts of his adoptive father. In addition to Elliot’s recollection of his time on the train, Hazel shared her positive experience with her adoptive father and how she “became his little girl.”
Moore and Lancaster met at a folk music festival, and as Lancaster recounts, became “partners in crime ever since.” After meeting Lancaster, Moore headed back to her home in Arizona where, according to Lancaster, they created much of the music they played Wednesday night over the phone.
“I am taking a few poetry classes for fun,” senior CCPA major Hadley Walker said, “but what was so interesting about this performance was not just the combination of media, but the story that has been so rarely told.”
“This part in history few people know about,” Moore said. With “Riders on the Orphan Train,” the performing pair wanted to raise awareness.
“This is not something that is in history books. People think these are fictional stories, but they are real. Pass it on,” Moore said as she picked up her guitar to play her last song.
