New Orphan Train Rider Statue to Honor Concordia Teacher

A statue of former Concordia teacher and orphan train rider, Mildred Tracy, will be placed at Concordia Middle School at 1001 East 7th Street on Friday, August 12th.  The unveiling will take place at 1 pm, and community members are welcome to attend.  The statue will be the 39th orphan train statue installed since the statue program began in 2015.

Emilie, Henry, and Bertha Lung were half orphaned when their mother passed away in 1912.  Their father couldn’t care for them on his own, so Emilie and Henry where placed in the Children’s Aid Society, and their sister Bertha was taken in by family friends.  On January 16, 1913, Emilie and Henry arrived in Warrensburg, Missouri, on an orphan train.  The two siblings were taken in by the O’Brien family.  Both Emilie and Henry were well educated and felt that they had found a loving home.

Emilie, who was also known as Millie or Mildred, attended college and taught school in Maryville, Missouri.  There, she met and married Buford Tracy, manager of Leidigh Lumber.  They had a daughter in 1948.  Later, the family moved to Concordia, where Mildred taught in grade schools until 1988.  In total, she taught school for 34 years.

After 40 years apart, Mildred and Henry reunited with their younger sister Bertha, who visited Concordia in 1952.  Mildred attended the first Orphan Train Heritage Society of America reunion in 1988.

Local community members remember Mrs. Tracy fondly.

“I had Mrs. Tracy for English and Society Studies.  She was wonderful,” said Ann Buresh Betzner.  Deidra Hinson Morgan described her as “very sweet and soft spoken.”  Marcia Peterson Cleavenger remembered her “standing in the doorway of her classroom always smiling so bright while waiting for her students to filter in.”

Mildred was also an active member of the educators’ group, Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of Women Educators.  When the local Alpha Sigma Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma heard Mildred’s story in 2018, and looked back to remember their friend, they knew that she needed to be honored with a statue.

The National Orphan Train Complex thanks all the individuals and groups who donated to this project, including members of Delta Kappa Gamma, Lavon Brosseau, and Cloud County educators.  Thank you also to USD 333 Concordia for allowing the placement of this statue at the school, and Leduc Memorial for installing the statue and creating the memorial plaque.