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November 18, 1873 | Newspaper
DISCRIMINATION ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR ON RAILROADS
The New York Times reported on its front page the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Catharine Brown's case. The case aroused Republicans to reconsider the intent and purpose of the Congress in the midst of the Civil War because it turned on the railroad's Congressional charter from 1863 which clearly barred any discrimination on the basis of race or color. The railroad's main argument before the Supreme Court rested first on the idea that separate cars were customary, locally sanctioned, and equally accommodated, and second on the specious reasoning that because they carried colored passengers they had not violated the Congressional charter--colored persons were carried, just in a different car. The spirit of the Congress in 1863, the Court decided, suggested otherwise. The decision, however significant and newsworthy, was sorely limited in its application. Only a handful of railroads in the District of Columbia possessed such language in their originating charters.
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August 1, 1877 | Illustration
"WifeI 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.
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August 18, 1877 | Illustration
"The Moral of the Strikes"
An illustration of "The Moral of the Strikes" which emphasizes their cost to working-class women and children.
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August 18, 1877 | Illustration
Pittsburgh Policemen Recovering Property Stolen by the Mob in the Recent Riots
On August 18, 1877, Leslie's Illustrated depicted the confiscation of property taken during the riots. Note that goods are being removed from working-class homes, to the distress of women and children.
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1878 | Illustration
Women Leading a Mob in Baltimore
Railroad detective Allan Pinkerton's history of the strike emphasized the unruliness of the mob and the threat of foreign, anarchist, and communist influences on American labor. He also emphasized the role of women in inciting the conflict. Here, his illustration shows women leading a mob against the police during the 1877 railroad strike in Baltimore.
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1886 | Book
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
Isabella Bird, a peripatetic traveler, recounted her adventures in the American West to her sister in letters published as A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains. In this excerpt, she writes about part of her 1873 train journey, describing the parlor car and conditions on the train.
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1890 | Book
Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society
Manuals of etiquette and behavior were incredibly popular during the 19th Century and covered every aspect of life from infancy to mourning. In this excerpt, some of the highly gendered expectations placed on a well-bred traveler on the railroad or on a steamboat are explained in detail.
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1892 | Book
A Voice From the South: By A Woman of the South
Anna J. Cooper, the first African American woman to earn a PhD, worked as a speaker, educator, and reformer. In this excerpt from Voice From the South Cooper addresses the contrast between the expectations of any middle-class, well-dressed woman traveling and the realities of the experience for African American women. Read with Richard Wells' Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society, also featured on this site.
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1911 | Photograph
A Manicure on the "Modern Train"
This image from The Modern Railroad (1911) captures a white, female passenger receiving a manicure from an African-American woman while aboard the railroad.
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1921 | Book
The School Days of an Indian Girl
Zitkalą-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) writes about her sense of dislocation on the railroad as she was taken to boarding school and the feelings she had on her return home.
