By Monique Roth

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – History will come alive on April 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 pm at the St. John the Baptist Parish Public Library in LaPlace as novelist and humanities scholar Alison Moore and singer/songwriter Phil Lancaster use original music, photographs and interviews with surviving orphan train riders to tell the story of the 250,000 orphans and unwanted children who were put on trains in New York City between 1854 and 1929 and sent all over the United States to be given away.

Moore will also give a dramatic recitation from her new novel, “Riders on the Orphan Train.”

Louisiana adopted its share of orphan train children, with close to 5,000 brought here by ship and rail. The orphan trains stopped in New Orleans, Shriever and Morgan City, and Catholic families throughout surrounding parishes adopted many of the orphans.

This “living history” performance will be followed by an informal discussion about the orphan train experience, as well as a question and answer session between the presenters and audience. Since 1998, Riders on the Orphan Train has been presented in more than 300 museums, libraries and schools.

More information on this program can be found at the official website, http://ridersontheorphantrain.org, or by calling 985-652-6857. Information on the novel can be found at alisonmoorebooks.com.