Search Documents

1290 Documents foundEdit Search

« Previous | 1 | ... | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | ... | 65 | Next »

Sort by: Title, Date, Type

February 10, 1872 | Illustration
Snow Sheds Covered With Snow
This image from the February 10, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts snow sheds on the Central Pacific Railroad.
February 10, 1872 | Illustration
The Snow Plow Clearing the Way
This image from the February 10, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a snow plow on the Central Pacific Railroad.
February 15, 1872 | Letter
Letter from Joseph E. Osborn to George S. Harris, February 15, 1872
In this February 15, 1872 letter from Joseph E. Osborn to George S. Harris, Osborn describes the results of a business trip to Norway, in which he tried to find favorable rates of passage for Norwegian immigrants who have purchased Burlington and Missouri River Railroad land in Iowa and Nebraska.
March 1, 1872 | Letter
Letter from C. R. Schaller to George S. Harris, March 1, 1872
In this March 1, 1872 letter from C. R. Schaller to George S. Harris, Schaller writes a letter of introduction for Mr. Louis McCandless of Moville, describing his intentions to start a colony and detailing his excellent work habits.
March 23, 1872 | Illustration
Accident to the Boston Express
This image from the March 23, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a train derailment on the Boston Express near Springfield, Massachusetts.
March 30, 1872 | Illustration
Justice On The Rail
This image from the March 30, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a cartoonist's view of justice "derailing" a corrupt ring on the Erie Railroad.
March 30, 1872 | Illustration
The Depot at Moss Neck
This image from the March 30, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a railroad depot at Moss Neck, North Carolina.
April 19, 1872 | Letter
Letter from Joseph G. Osborn to George S. Harris, April 19, 1872
In this April 19, 1872 letter from Joseph E. Osborn to George S. Harris, Osborn describes the immigrants headed to Burlington and Missouri River Railroad lands in Nebraska and Iowa as being "as poor as church rats."
April 27, 1872 | Illustration
The Proposed Harbor at Dover
This image from the April 27, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a proposed harbor at Dover, Delaware, that includes a railroad depot for shipping cargo.
November 9, 1872 | Illustration
The Workmen's Train
This image from the November 9, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts a workmen's train in the subway of London, England as a part of a fictional story entitled London: A Pilgrimage by Gustave Dor� and Blanchard Jerrold.
December 21, 1872 | Illustration
Constructing Railroad Ties
This image from the December 21, 1872 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts five people seated in a passenger car.
1873 | 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.
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.
January 20, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, January 20, 1874
This January 20, 1874 document is an application to purchase land at $6.00 per acre from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. An immigrant from Bohemia, the applicant lists his length of time in the United States as six years and his time in Nebraska as 20 months. This purchaser's status as a relative newcomer to the country shows how the availability of land near railroads simultaneously provided opportunities for new immigrants to become property holders and also gave incentive for people to settle in the Great Plains.
March 14, 1874 | Illustration
A Patient Railroad Traveler
In an apparent commentary on the slowness of some railroad companies, this image from the March 14, 1874 issue of Harper's Weekly offers a cartoonist's conception of a patient railroad traveler.
March 14, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 14, 1874
This March 14, 1874 application to purchase land in Lancaster County, Nebraska from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company details the costs associated with land purchases. As both an immigrant and a woman, this applicant shows that the availability of relatively cheap land opened ownership opportunities to a variety of non-traditional demographic groups.
March 18, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 18, 1874
In this March 18, 1874 application to buy land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company, a quarter section of Nebraska land sells for $7.00 per acre. A German immigrant who had lived in the United States for six years, Johann Brunken had spent only five days in Nebraska prior to his land purchase. The opportunity to own land as a recent immigrant may have influenced his decision to relocate.
March 18, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, Signature Sheet
This signature sheet from a Johann Brunken's Nebraska land contract has spaces for fares and freight on the Burlington and Missouri River and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads, showing at least two of the railroads that had expanded into Nebraska by 1874.
March 26, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, March 26, 1874
This March 26, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. The applicant, Adolph Brauer, was a German immigrant who had lived in the United States for only four years, but apparently seized the opportunity provided by the railroads to purchase his own property.
May 25, 1874 | Contract
Burlington Northern Land Contract, May 25, 1874
This May 25, 1874 document is an application to purchase land from the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company in Lancaster County, Nebraska. This applicant was an immigrant from Prussia, and financed his land purchase on "long credit", paying $43.20 when he filled out the application. Abundant land in the Great Plains gave immigrants like this man opportunities to become property owners.