April 27, 1889 | Letter
Following the strike of 1888, railroad officials were careful to avoid hiring union members and employees who had "behaved badly" during the 45-day strike. Thomas Calvert, as General Superintendent in Lincoln, worked with railroad officials to help in the process of regulating re-employment.
March 19, 1841 | Newspaper
Northern railways continued to discriminate against African American passengers and are rebuked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
April 2, 1841 | Newspaper
The maltreatment of African Americans by New England rail companies acting as "epidermis-aristocrats" draws an abolitionist's wrath as a Southerner weighs in on the merits of Southern rail travel.
November 6, 1841 | Newspaper
The plight of African Americans and their abolitionist supporters on New England railroads is addressed in depth in this passionate editorial.
June 18, 1868 | Newspaper
The railroad's segregation of Catharine Brown in February 1868 and her subsequent lawsuit against the company came to the immediate attention of Senator Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) and Senator Waitman Willey (West Virginia), both of whom sat on the Senate's District of Columbia Committee. At their urging, the Senate Committee launched an investigation into the affair, deposed dozens of witnesses, and issued a stinging report against the railroad company. Many of these same witnesses testified later in Brown's civil suit against the railroad company.
May 11, 1869 | Newspaper
This account of the "Golden Spike" ceremony at Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869, as printed in the May 11th edition of the Salt Lake Telegram, describes the festivities involved and lists some of the important attendees. Following the article, the compiler offers a one-sided picture of the situation regarding pay for the Union Pacific's construction crews and details Samuel Reed's actions after the ceremony.
April 21, 1877 | Newspaper
The ejection of a party of Alabama African American men and women from a first class car on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad is recounted in this letter from William Jenkins of Tuskeegee, Alabama.
July 18, 1877 | Newspaper
On July 18, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes issued a proclamation calling the citizens engaged in the strike to peacefully disperse and return to their homes.
July 20, 1877 | Newspaper
On July 20, 1877, Maryland Governor John L. Carroll requests military assistance from President Rutherford B. Hayes to stop the "rioters" and prevent "domestic violence."
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This editorial from the July 21, 1877 edition of the Baltimore American emphasizes the strike and violence was preventable if adequate police had been on the scene and available.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
On July 21, 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes issued a proclamation ordering all strikers to disperse and return home. He noted that a state of "domestic violence" existed in Cumberland, Maryland, and "along the line" of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
July 24, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 24, 1877 article from the Pittsburgh Daily Post notes the strike's spread throughout the country.
August 13, 1877 | Newspaper
This August 13, 1877 article reports on the violence and destruction of the Great Railroad strike in cities across the eastern United States.
September 29, 1883 | Newspaper
A brief editorial statement about the conditions on Texas railroads and the lack of equal accomodations for African Americans and the need for a continued struggle against "American intolerance."
January 25, 1884 | Newspaper
This description of the masculine, almost class-free atmosphere in the smoking car is in sharp contrast to the requirements of the "ladies' cars" expected for middle-class female travelers. Note the sense of freedom men seem to experience in the cars.
September 10, 1886 | Newspaper
The plight of three African American passengers on a Georgia railcar is recounted in this reprint from the Macon Telegraph.
December 24, 1887 | Newspaper
The case of Rev. William Heard versus the Georgia Railroad Company is heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission.
January 5, 1889 | Newspaper
A correspondent of the New York Age reports on an Atlanta Evening Journal article recounting the expulsion of Reverend T. H. Lee from a Georgia Railroad Company coach.
September 3, 1891 | Newspaper
A reponse from the Southern Pacific following an Interstate Commerce Commission ruling that African Americans making trips crossing state lines could not be ejected from first-class cars.
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.