Wednesday, April 23, 2025
The barefoot boy leans against the mailbox post, engrossed in a letter. He is in front of the Blade-Empire newspaper office north of Sixth on Washington Street. He is the latest addition to our statues here in Concordia, the Orphan Train Town. This boy represents Harry “Shorty” Morris, whose story I shared with you last week. Shorty’s statue is number 51!
Our statue program was the brainchild of former curator Shaley George. When we first started, Shaley was determined to have 100 statues in our community. Someone told her she was crazy but Shaley told them, “Fine, I’ll settle for half that.” With the unveiling of Shorty’s statue, the National Orphan Train Complex (NOTC) has passed that halfway mark! Shaley George, now residing in Denver, Colorado, was a special guest at this event.
Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m, more than thirty of Shorty’s descendants and numerous citizens of Concordia gathered at the Blade-Empire to unveil the statue and celebrate Shorty Morris’ life. This crowd on hand for this unveiling was one of the biggest we’ve had in several years. So many of Shorty’s family came from all over the U.S.: Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Massachusetts, California, and more. We were honored to have Shorty’s last surviving child, Roger, in attendance. They made it a celebration, a happy reunion where they remembered their dad, grandpa, great-grandpa, and the wisdom and witticism he shared with them through their years growing up. They gathered for a catered dinner and spent Saturday evening visiting.
Those of us from NOTC who attended the unveiling and dinner were touched by this amazing family and the love they put into this event. One of the great-grandchildren printed a beautiful program with all of Shorty’s descendants in it to commemorate the day. A t-shirt was made by another. All of the family members came to our museum and visited, thrilled to see Shorty’s photo on the back side of the Depot door.
At the dinner, they asked us if we wanted to speak. Shaley took the mike. She stated that this was her dream. She had hoped that the statue program would bring families together for happy reasons, not sad ones such as funerals. She wanted the families to remember those who came before and their experiences that got them where they are today.
The statue for Shorty Morris was placed in front of the Blade-Empire office because Shorty was in the newspaper business for fifty years. There was no better place to honor his life and legacy.
Anyone wishing to know more about the statue program dedicated to remembering this history and these personal stories can contact the museum or stop by. We have a wish list of riders we’d love to see represented, and there are so many occupations and clubs that we can choose from for you. Let’s see if we can make Shaley’s wildest dream come true and get to 100 statues!
We also have a flyer at the museum and on our website if you would like a list of all of the rider statues and their locations. It’s fun to visit them and read the wide variety of stories accompanying the statues. This is a unique way to keep Orphan Train information available to Concordia’s visitors 24/7. Even when the museum is closed, visitors can get an idea of this history from the statues around town; what a fun way to learn about Orphan Trains and the children who rode them.
Thank you so much to the Shorty Morris family for sponsoring this beautiful statue and the amazing celebration that followed. We also want to thank our friends at the Blade-Empire, the owners of the building, the city of Concordia, and to LeDuc Memorial for making this happen for Shorty and for NOTC.
