The orphan migration of the nation's poor from urban tenements to rural America was the result of economic and social structures of 19th century America. Orphans, foundlings, waifs, half-orphans, street Arabs and street urchins are all terms used to describe the children who rode the orphan trains. In 1893, Charles Loring Brace, a young minister, recognized the overpopulation of poor men, women and children in urban areas and the need for laborers in the Wes. He was instrumental in establishing the New York Children's Aid Society that in\itiated the program of placing more than 200,000 from crowded orphanages and homes into farm communities between 1854-1929. Sharon Burns, Daily Oklahoman columnist and professional genealogist, will speak at the Oklahoma Genealogical Society meeting at 6 p.m. April 4 in the auditorium of the Oklahoma Historical Society, 2100 N Lincoln Blvd. The program will provide an overview of the orphan train rider's history and available resources: books, magazines articles and Web sites. Sharon Burns has been researching her family history since 1976 when she returned to Oklahoma with her family. She began writing the We The People column for the Daily Oklahoman in 1991 and has attended the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research at Stanford University in Birmingham, Alabama, the National Institute on Genealogical Research in Washington, DC. Awards include the Excellence in Writing Competition, Council of Genealogy Columnists, Second Place, 1993 and First Place in 1996. She is a retired Media Director of the Edmond Public Schools and has taught genealogy at Oklahoma City Community College, University of Central Oklahoma, and is currently an instructor at Francis Tuttle. She is the Oklahoma Genealgical Society Workshop, Seminar and Family History Story Writing Contest Chairman. Oklahoma Genealogical Society meeting will held at 6 P.M., Monday, March 7, 2005 at the Oklahoma Historical Society Auditorium, in the Wiley Post Building, 2100 North Lincoln Blvd., OKC. The meetings are free and open to the public. Come early and do some research in the Library and visit with experienced researchers in the auditorium at 5 P.M. to help you with those brick walls. For more information, e-mail: rutheager@aol.com 405 751-1979. Visit the OGS Website at: www.rootsweb.com/~okgs / ------------------------------------------------- Frederick M. Dittmar Diggin Deep Genealogy Research Service PO Box 2601 Norman, Oklahoma  73026   http://frederick.dittmar.org   Member: Association of Professional Genealogy http://www.apgen.org   Mail List Administrator: 19 Mail Lists   Board Member Oklahoma Genealogy Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgs