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  • | Illustration

    "Wife—I Guess We've Got To Strike!"

    This cover illustration from the August 1, 1877 issue of PUCK Magazine depicts a poor family's decision to go on strike.

  • | Photograph

    28th St and Upper Round House, citizens shot here

    Part of a series of stereographs published in the wake of the 1877 Railroad Strike. The images show the destruction at Pittsburgh, which resulted from violent clashes July 21-22.

  • | Photograph

    A Freight Crew and Its Hack

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911) captures a railroad freight crew posing with an Erie Railroad car in the background.

  • | Illustration

    A Pun on Kars

    This image from the August 1, 1877 edition of PUCK Magazine is a pun on Kars (a city in Turkey) that depicts a soldier being pulled behind a railroad car.

  • | Photograph

    A Railroad Engineer "Fussing At His Machine"

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911), shows a railroad engineer, "oil-can in hand," lubricating the wheel of a locomotive.

  • | Photograph

    A Railroad Fireman Shoveling Coal

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911), captures a railroad fireman shoveling coal into the firebox.

  • | Photograph

    An Army of Clerks

    This image from The Modern Railroad (1911), depicts a room full of freight department clerks.

  • | Illustration

    Beecher's Theory and Practice

    This cover image from the August 8, 1877 issue of PUCK Magazine depicts Henry Ward Beecher as a hypocrite.

  • | Broadsides

    Boston and Worcester Railroad Circular Regarding Pay Cuts, October 30, 1857

    In this October 30, 1857 circular, Ginery Twichell, Superintendent of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, describes the reasons for a ten percent pay cut for all employees. He cites the recent reduction in receipts from passengers and freight, as well as the "sudden and unexpected financial storm" as the basis for the change.

  • | Illustration

    Construction Gang Repairing the Tracks at Corning

    The strike spread from Baltimore into small towns, big cities, and rural areas in the summer of 1877. This August 11, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated depicts a gang of workers under the protection of the 23rd New York State National Guard Regiment repairing the tracks near Corning, New York.

  • | Illustration

    Construction Gang Righting Overturned Cars

    Scenes of repair and destruction of railroads in this August 11, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated were similar to illustrations throughout the Civil War. This lithograph depicts a construction gang, under the protection of the New York State Militia, righting overturned cars near Corning, New York.

  • | Illustration

    Digging Their Own Graves

    This image from the front page of the July 25, 1877 issue of PUCK Magazine mockingly depicts two strikers "digging their own graves."

  • | Photograph

    Ephraim Dawes, 1863

    Dawes fought in the Battle of Shiloh, then protected the railroads in Tennessee with the 53rd Ohio. He was promoted to major of the regiment on January 26, 1863.

  • | Broadsides

    General Superintendent S.T. Smith's General Order Implementing Standard Time, November 14, 1883

    This General Order from November 14, 1883, circulated by S. T. Smith, General Superintendent of the Kansas Division of the Union Pacific Railroad, notifies all stations on the Kansas Division that "standard time" will begin at exactly 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 18, 1883. This order coincides with the establishment of time zones throughout the United States, a development necessitated by the speed of railroad travel.

  • | Photograph

    Grading camp for the Union Pacific Railroad in the Rocky Mountains

    This is a photograph of the grading camp for the Union Pacific Railroad in the Rocky Mountains.

  • | Photograph

    John W. Garrett

    John W. Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1858-1884, steered the railroad through the crisis of the Civil War, maintaining a firm commitment to the Union. In the strike Garrett regretted pay cuts and attempted to retain his employees, but firmly held to the principle of free labor's right to contract.

  • | Illustration

    Puck Humorous Weekly

    This dramatic image appeared on two pages of the August 1, 1877 edition of PUCK Magazine and illustrates a skeleton-headed train running past apparently injured women, with dark images of laborers in the smoke.

  • | Photograph

    Railroad Workers, 1850s

    Few original images remain of railroad workers in the 1850s, especially of construction crews, whether free labor or enslaved. Northern railroad companies employed thousands of men on their payrolls in a dizzying array of occupations.

  • | Illustration

    Rioters Tearing Up Rails at the Bridge at Corning

    This August 11, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated depicts strikers tearing up the track and bridge near Corning, New York in advance of an oncoming engine. These confrontations were both organized and spontaneous, dependent on the deep experience and expertise of the railroad workers with the operation of the roads.

  • | Illustration

    Robert M. Ammon Directs the Strikers

    This August 11, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated depicts Robert M. Ammon, leader of the Pittsburgh and Fort Wayne strike, sending information to the strikers via telegraph.