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  • Report from Samuel B. Reed to Oliver Ames, 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.

  • | Annual report

    Report from Division Engineer Samuel B. Reed to Chief Engineer Peter A. Dey Describing Survey from Green River to Salt Lake City, December 24, 1864

    In this December 24, 1864 report, Samuel B. Reed describes his surveys and explorations of the land from Green River, Utah to Salt Lake City. He gives his recommendations for the route of the Union Pacific Railroad line, including the availability of timber for railroad ties and coal to power the locomotives.

  • | Newspaper

    Rebuke of the Eastern Railroad Company, for their Treatment of Colored Passengers

    Northern railways continued to discriminate against African American passengers and are rebuked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

  • | Speech

    Raleigh, NC Speech, 1896-09-17

    Speech by William Jennings Bryan.

  • | Artwork

    Rainbows on a Train, 1980

  • | Artwork

    Railway Station, about 1935

  • | Artwork

    Railway Station, about 1935

  • | Photograph

    Rails for military railroad, Alexandria, Virginia.

  • | 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.

  • | Artwork

    Railroad Switching Yards, 1975

  • | Artwork

    Railroad Station, Providence, Rhode Island, 1967

  • | Photograph

    Railroad mortar "The Dictator" at Petersburg, Virginia, July 25, 1864

  • | Artwork

    Railroad Crossing, 1939

  • | Newspaper

    Railroad Corporations

    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.

  • | Photograph

    Railroad construction workers hammer track as a third watches

    African American laborers, free and contraband, worked for the Union Army to build and repair rail lines across the South. Note the bent and broken rails scattered in the background, signs of earlier destruction.

  • | Legal decision

    Railroad Company v. Brown, 84 U.S. 17 Wall. 445 445 (1873)

    In 1868, Catherine Brown, an African American woman, was ejected from the "ladies car" on the Washington, Alexandria, and Georgetown Railroad Company when traveling from Alexandria, Virginia, to the District of Columbia. Brown sued the rail company and the case was appealed to the United States Supreme Court - the first case addressing race and public transportation to appear before the Court. Although the legal status of the railroad under Congressional rulings that had applied to earlier iterations of the company became a basis for appeal, the rights of African Americans became the most notable outcome of the Supreme Court's decision for Brown in 1873.

  • | Newspaper

    Race Problem on Railroads

    North Carolina plans for Jim Crow cars draw attention.

  • | Photograph

    President Gorman and Mrs. Stevens at the Dedication of the Samuel B. Reed Monument in Joliet, Illinois, October 10, 1922

    This is a photograph of President Gorman and Mrs. Stevens at the dedication of the Samuel B. Reed monument in Joliet, Illinois on October 10, 1922. The monument is still located on the grounds of the Joliet, Illinois Will County Court House, approximately 75 feet from the northeast corner of the building. It reads: "On this spot in 1850 Samuel Benedict Reed, Civil Engineer, pioneer railroad builder, citizen of Joliet, began the survey for the present Chicago Rock Island and Pacific, the first railroad to reach and bridge the Mississippi River. The first train into Joliet reached this initial point October 10, 1852. As Chief Engineer of Construction he directed the building of the Union Pacific, the first trans-continental railroad, the completion of which in 1869 realized the dream of Columbus: a westward trade route to the Indies. This rock from the summit of the Continental Divide on the line of the Union Pacific was placed here through the cooperation of these two railroads and dedicated October 10, 1922."

  • | Artwork

    Prairie Boxcars, 1974

  • | Speech

    Poughkeepsie, NY Speech, 1896-08-17

    Speech by William Jennings Bryan.