#63

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

There is a story that on Thanksgiving Day, 1863, two children knocked on the door of the governor's mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They explained that the death of their father, a Union soldier, left them penniless to wander the streets and beg for food. Moved by their plight, the governor, Andrew Curtin, established 15 schools for war orphans. Eventually that number grew to more than 40.

(Source: Marten, James, "Orphans from the Civil War, Cobblestone magazine, December 1, 1999.)