​Lectures/Schools/Other Venues

Now Offering Virtual Lectures  

Sherry incorporates a high end PowerPoint presentation to keep the audience involved. During her presentation, Sherry’s goal is to entertain, enlighten and educate the minds of everyone in attendance. Sherry’s presentations are perfect for Schools,  Libraries, Historical Society, Woman’s Groups, Senior Centers, or anyone wishing to discover tidbits of hidden history. The Lecture generally lasts between fifty minutes to an hour. The presentation can be tailored to your event and is followed by a Q & A session.
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The History of the Orphan Trains
Did you know that at one time there were over thirty thousand children of all ages living on the streets in New York City?
Boys and girls as young as four and five, living and working for pennies a day.
In a time before child labor laws, boys and girls worked alongside men and women in factories to help put food on the table.
Oftentimes children had to resort to thievery or join gangs in order to survive. 
One man, Charles Loring Brace, made it his life’s mission to help these children. His vision while not perfect, helped to relocate many of New York’s homeless children to rural settings across the county and, by doing so, offered them a life they may not have otherwise seen.

While no one knows the exact number, estimates show over two hundred thousand children were relocated in the seventy-five-year run of the program we now know as the Orphan Trains.

Care to learn more?


​#theorphantrains #orphantrain  #Orphantrainlecture 

Sherry also does author presentations on how a book is created in which she utilizes her own children's books.

                                                  Reviews 

Sherry A. Burton shared the amazing American saga of the Orphan Train.  This little known slice of history came to life under the storytelling of Sherry.  She held our large audience spellbound while she wove the tale of these children.  She made history come alive and we all went away better for it!  
Christine Friedt, Program Director  Northview Senior Citizens in Grand Rapids, MI

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January 2022 
Recently, author Mrs. Sherry A  Burton came to our 7th grade classroom via a Google Meet to discuss her research about children who rode the orphan trains out of New York City and Boston. Her animated voice and PowerPoint presentation kept the students’ attention. Over the next few weeks the photographs will provide a visual reference as we read our textbook. For our class it was the perfect segue into the unit on orphan trains. What a serendipitous experience!
~Carmen Blatt, English 7 & 8 teacher at Marlette Jr/Sr High School in Marlette, MI