Historical Note Between 1854 and 1929, more than 200,000 children—many orphaned, some from struggling families—were sent west on “orphan trains” from crowded East Coast cities to rural families. At train stations, children were shown to prospective families who chose them for homes or work. Some children found loving families while others faced difficult labor. Brothers and sisters were often separated. This largely forgotten part of American history shaped the lives of thous

Rosa Marino’s fingers moved without thinking anymore, guiding fabric beneath the needle of her sewing machine. Stitch, stitch, stitch—five hundred shirtwaists a day if she kept pace. The rhythm had become as natural as breathing during her eighteen months at the Triangle Waist Company. She barely had to think about what she was doing anymore, so she was able to retreat into her head and get lost in her thoughts. It was nearly quitting time on Saturday, March 25th, 1911. Just

Kai knew something was wrong when his mother didn’t laugh at the joke. It was their joke. It had been for years. Every time it rained—which was rare enough in the climate-controlled sectors—one of them would say, “Remember when we got caught in that downpour at the pier?” The other would finish: “And you insisted we dance in it like idiots?” But when Kai said it that morning, watching the scheduled precipitation streak down their apartment’s single window—gray water against g