International Woman’s
Foundation
Foundation
* Welcome * About Bldg. 98 * Health & Wellness
* Membership * Events * Artists at Bldg. 98
* Photos of Bldg. 98 * Contact
* Membership * Events * Artists at Bldg. 98
* Photos of Bldg. 98 * Contact
| International Woman’s Foundation Hacienda Del Arcon • 705 West Bonnie Street • Marfa, TX 79843 Mailing address: PO Bo 445 • Marfa, TX 79843 (432) 729-4826 • fax (432) 729-3391 garciamona@att.net |
Events
| C O M I N G E V E N T S Johannes Wunner and Sallie McIlheran Building 98 Friday September 10, 2010 8:00 pm • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • |
| P A S T E V E N T S Riders On The Orphan Train Building 98 Friday October 30, 2009 8:00 pm • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • |
FREE and Open to the Public – for General Audiences of all ages
Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and unwanted children were taken
out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. The last train
came to Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1929. This “placing out” system was originally
organized by Congregationalist minister Charles Loring Brace and the Children’s Aid
Society of New York. His mission was to rid the streets and overcrowded orphanages
of homeless children and provide them with an opportunity to find new homes in the
developing Midwest. Many of the children were not orphans but “surrendered” by
parents too impoverished to keep them. This nearly eighty year experiment in child
migration is filled with the entire spectrum of human emotion and reveals a great deal
about the successes and failures of the American Dream. Through literature, music,
archival photographs, film interviews, informal lecture and audience discussion this
virtually untold chapter in American history comes alive. The one-hour multi media
program including music, video and a dramatic reading of a novel in progress by
award-winning author Alison Moore. Although the program is about children it is
designed to engage audiences of all ages.
Alison Moore, Humanities Scholar
Alison Moore, MFA, is a former Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing in the
MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Arizona and a current Humanities
Scholar in Texas. She lives in Austin and is completing a novel on the Orphan Trains
with a grant from the Texas Institute of Letters and the Dobie/Paisano Foundation of
the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of three books, a new collection
of short stories entitled The Middle of Elsewhere (Phoenix International/University of
Arkansas Press 2006), Small Spaces between Emergencies (Mercury House, 1992)
one of the Notable Books of 1993 chosen by The American Library Association, and
a novel, Synonym for Love (Mercury House 1995). In 2004 she received the
Katherine Ann Porter Prize for Fiction.
Phil Lancaster, Presenter/Audio-Visual Technician
Arkansas Arts on Tour musician Phil Lancaster (Professor Strings) was born in
Texarkana and studied art and music at L’Ecole De Beaux Arts in Angers, France. He
became a member of a bluegrass band that traveled and played throughout France
and produced an album entitled “Bluegrass Oldies Ltd./Traveling Show.” He also
worked as a stage theatre technician for La Coursive Theatre Nationale in La
Rochelle, France. After returning to the U.S. he met three Arkansas musicians and
the acoustic quartet “Still on the Hill” was formed in Fayetteville. They released their
first CD in 1997, the second in 2000. The group performed at national and
international festivals. He currently lives in Austin and is a co-presenter of Riders on
the Orphan Train. In 2007 he received an Arkansas Arts Council fellowship for Music
Composition.
“…the program far exceeded any expectations I may have had, as did the
community’s response…this was by far the most well-attended program the library
has ever offered….everyone who attended was moved, educated and
entertained…your program truly made an impact on our community.
--Cecilia Hurt Barham, Decatur Public Library, Decatur, TX
Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and unwanted children were taken
out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. The last train
came to Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1929. This “placing out” system was originally
organized by Congregationalist minister Charles Loring Brace and the Children’s Aid
Society of New York. His mission was to rid the streets and overcrowded orphanages
of homeless children and provide them with an opportunity to find new homes in the
developing Midwest. Many of the children were not orphans but “surrendered” by
parents too impoverished to keep them. This nearly eighty year experiment in child
migration is filled with the entire spectrum of human emotion and reveals a great deal
about the successes and failures of the American Dream. Through literature, music,
archival photographs, film interviews, informal lecture and audience discussion this
virtually untold chapter in American history comes alive. The one-hour multi media
program including music, video and a dramatic reading of a novel in progress by
award-winning author Alison Moore. Although the program is about children it is
designed to engage audiences of all ages.
Alison Moore, Humanities Scholar
Alison Moore, MFA, is a former Assistant Professor of English/Creative Writing in the
MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Arizona and a current Humanities
Scholar in Texas. She lives in Austin and is completing a novel on the Orphan Trains
with a grant from the Texas Institute of Letters and the Dobie/Paisano Foundation of
the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of three books, a new collection
of short stories entitled The Middle of Elsewhere (Phoenix International/University of
Arkansas Press 2006), Small Spaces between Emergencies (Mercury House, 1992)
one of the Notable Books of 1993 chosen by The American Library Association, and
a novel, Synonym for Love (Mercury House 1995). In 2004 she received the
Katherine Ann Porter Prize for Fiction.
Phil Lancaster, Presenter/Audio-Visual Technician
Arkansas Arts on Tour musician Phil Lancaster (Professor Strings) was born in
Texarkana and studied art and music at L’Ecole De Beaux Arts in Angers, France. He
became a member of a bluegrass band that traveled and played throughout France
and produced an album entitled “Bluegrass Oldies Ltd./Traveling Show.” He also
worked as a stage theatre technician for La Coursive Theatre Nationale in La
Rochelle, France. After returning to the U.S. he met three Arkansas musicians and
the acoustic quartet “Still on the Hill” was formed in Fayetteville. They released their
first CD in 1997, the second in 2000. The group performed at national and
international festivals. He currently lives in Austin and is a co-presenter of Riders on
the Orphan Train. In 2007 he received an Arkansas Arts Council fellowship for Music
Composition.
“…the program far exceeded any expectations I may have had, as did the
community’s response…this was by far the most well-attended program the library
has ever offered….everyone who attended was moved, educated and
entertained…your program truly made an impact on our community.
--Cecilia Hurt Barham, Decatur Public Library, Decatur, TX