August 31, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
August 11, 1877 | Illustration
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.
August 11, 1877 | Newspaper
This August 11, 1877 image from Leslie's Illustrated depicts the crowd marching down the New York Central railroad track at West Albany, New York on July 24, 1877.
July 23, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 23, 1877 issue of the Baltimore American gives an account of the rioters halting rail service and robbing freight cars.
August 4, 1877 | Illustration
Images of rowdy or drunken strikers were common in the wake of the 1877 strikes.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore Sun describes the riot at the Sixth Maryland Regiment armory in Baltimore.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore Sun gives an account of the rioters assaulting the Fifth Maryland Regiment at Camden Station in Baltimore.
April 5, 1893 | Newspaper
The decision for Maime Caldwell in her case against the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad Company for discrimination is briefly recounted, noting the final award of $800.
September 18, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
1870 | Illustration
Richard Cobden, a leading Liberal in Parliament, was also invested in the Illinois Central Railroad. He took two major trips to the United States, first in 1835 and again in 1859. During his first trip he traveled on railroads for a total of just ninety miles, from Lowell, Mass., to Boston, and then to Providence, R.I. On his second trip, twenty-four years later, he traveled 4,000 miles on American railroads.
May 18, 1861 | Illustration
This image from the May 18, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Rhode Island artillery being unloaded from the steamship "Bienville" at the Washington, D.C. arsenal.
August 19, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
December 24, 1887 | Newspaper
The case of Rev. William Heard versus the Georgia Railroad Company is heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission.
1864 | Letter
Passes for African American railroad employees requested of W. J. Stevens, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, Nashville.
November 3, 1894 | Newspaper
Conservative Republicans organized "Business Men's Associations" in the 1894 campaign to fund and support Republican candidates, elect John M. Thurston, and defeat William Jennings Bryan. These associations spawned considerable political debate about the role of business in politics.
July 23, 1877 | Newspaper
This article in the July 23, 1877 edition of the Daily Alleganian and Times describes incidents stemming from the vast number of reporters who had arrived to cover the strike.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore American reports the number of citizens killed when the military shot into the crowd outside Camden Station in Baltimore.
1867 | Annual report
This report details the financial and material state of the Southern Railroad Company in 1867.
January 31, 1866 | Annual report
In this January 31, 1866 report, Samuel B. Reed describes his surveys and explorations of the land from Salt Lake City, Utah to the California state line. He gives his recommendations for the route of the Union Pacific Railroad and suggests building the line from West to East (rather than from East to West), due to timber availability. He further suggests that subsequent survey crews should use camels, rather than horses or mules, due to the lack of water on a good portion of the route.
1867
In this copy of a report from 1867, Samuel Reed writes to Oliver Ames, President of the Union Pacific Railroad, detailing the progress of the railroad's construction over the past year. He describes the totality of the work that has been done on the railroad from October 1, 1866 to September 1, 1867, giving very specific accounts of the miles of track laid, telegraph lines built, railroad ties used, bridges constructed, amount of earth and rock excavated during grading, and the like. He also discusses the great difficulty he has had in obtaining ties for the railroad, particularly from the Black Hills and in the area of Laurence Fork, Nebraska. He writes that there have been "serious delays in grading and in furnishing ties caused by the decided hostility of the Indians, our grading men have been frequently attacked, some men have been killed and a large amount of stock lost." Reed also includes an account of the materials on hand as of September 1, 1867.