18th Celebration of Orphan Train Riders to Showcase Diverse Talents at Four Free Events

To kick off the Celebration this year, Susanna Pitzer of New York will read her children’s book about Elky, the little tin elephant who rode the Orphan Train with Mabel Gumersell and now lives in a display at the Orphan Train museum. Pitzer’s reading of “Mabel and Elky Ride the Orphan Train” will be held in the Broadway Plaza at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 3. Afterwards, books will be available for sale and the author will be on hand to autograph them.
Based on the true story of Gumersell’s journey to a new family, the book explores the emotions and excitement experienced with the largest mass migration of children in the history of the United States. Mabel was one of the fortunate few who had toys to bring with her when she joined her new family in Mound City, Missouri. Both of the actual toys, a dented metal elephant she named Elky and a cardboard doll, are on display in the Jones Education Station at the Complex.
Pitzer donated her talents and time to both write and illustrate this children’s book. Countless hours went into the book, including numerous revisions. Pitzer was on hand for both the 2018 and 2019 annual celebrations in Concordia to demonstrate the processes involved and to read the book to attendees. She worked with a number of schools in New York City to gain feedback from students and improve the story before it was published. Susanna is a graduate of Cloud County Community College and former student of NOTC President Susan Sutton.
On Friday, June 4, at 2 p.m., Dr. Jeremy Christopher Kohomban will share his experience as a leader in family support and residential treatment reform. Dr. Kohomban is the President and CEO of The Children’s Village and the President of Harlem Dowling. The Children’s Village, founded in 1851, and Harlem Dowling, founded in 1831, provide a broad continuum of residential and community-embedded programs serving 15,000 annually.
Dr. Kohomban is an author, an activist, and always a pragmatic leader.  He played a leading role in the family support, juvenile justice and residential treatment reforms that are transforming systems. He is driven by the belief that every child, regardless of age, deserves a family, and he is outspoken about the social justice antecedents that drive child welfare and juvenile justice. Under his leadership, The Children’s Village, the nation’s oldest and once the largest children’s residential treatment center, has been transformed into a national model for community-embedded family support. The Children’s Village is the Gold Prize winner of the New York Community Trust-New York Magazine’s Nonprofit Excellence Awards, the U.S. Congressional Coalition Angels in Adoption award, the Child Welfare League of America Innovative Leadership Award and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, Samuel Gerson Nordlinger Leadership Award. In 2019, City & State ranked him #3 among New York’s charity leaders.
Senators Wyden and Hatch added his name to the Congressional Record as an example of bipartisanship for his testimony to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee calling for reform of the multi-billion Title 4E funding. Testimony that led to the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA).  The Imprint notes that Dr. Kohomban was one of the most important off-the-Hill boosters of the FFPSA effort, described as the “biggest federal overhaul of foster care in decades.” City Limits magazine identified him as a leader with a “clear vision for the future.” In the book “Pariahs to Partners, How Parents and their Allies Changed New York City’s Child Welfare System,” he is described as “one of the most parent-focused, reform-minded, and effective administrators in the field.”
Dr. Kohomban chairs the Human Services Council, is the national co-chair of the Children Need Amazing Parents (CHAMPS) campaign, and a Trustee of Save the Children. He is a graduate of Emporia State University, Kansas, has a master's from Long Island University, New York, a Ph.D. from the School for Business and Leadership at Regent University, Virginia and a LittD (Honorary Doctor of Letters) from Mercy College, New York.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Clark Kidder, Emmy-winning writer/producer and Orphan Train Descendant, from Janesville, Wisconsin. This will be the second trip to Concordia for Kidder, who will be giving a presentation on the history of the New York Juvenile Asylum and the role it played in the Orphan Train Movement. His presentation will take place on Saturday, June 5, at 9:15 a.m. in the Broadway Plaza.
Debuting his new multi-volume set of books chronicling the history of the New York Juvenile Asylum and its Orphan Trains, Kidder has documented the names of thousands of orphan train riders sent west from the Asylum between the years 1854-circa 1921, as well as the names of the foster parents to whom they were indentured or placed.
Kidder is a freelance writer for international publications, including several about Marilyn Monroe. His book “Emily’s Story” (documenting his grandmother’s Orphan Train journey) and “Orphan Trains and Their Precious Cargo” can be purchased in the NOTC gift shop.
He won the 38th Annual William Best Hesseltine Book Award for his article titled “West by Orphan Train” in the Wisconsin Magazine of History in 2004. Kidder also co-wrote/produced the documentary “West by Orphan Train," which will be shown Friday evening in the Broadway Plaza at 6 p.m.
Kidder spent countless hours requesting and transcribing East Coast orphanage and welfare organization records, from the Catholic Protectory to the New York House of Refuge. This work has expanded the understanding of the welfare organizations of the past and their connection to the Orphan Train Movement. The Board of Directors of the National Orphan Train Complex is very pleased to welcome Clark Kidder back to the Annual Celebration.
All four of these events will be held at the Broadway Plaza and are free and open to the public.