© 2006–2017
All Rights Reserved
William G. Thomas
Copyright Statement
March 26, 1883 | Newspaper
The plight of middle- and upper-class African Americans on Georgia railways and in public accommodations is briefly addressed in this report from Savannah, Georgia.
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.
May 20, 1875 | Newspaper
The United States District Court at Harrisionburg, Virginia, hands down an indictment against the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for the ejection of Annie Smith.
November 18, 1873 | Newspaper
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.
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.
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.
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.
March 19, 1841 | Newspaper
Northern railways continued to discriminate against African American passengers and are rebuked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
December 16, 1868 | Letter
In this letter from December 16, 1868, Samuel Reed writes to his wife and family describing the progress on grading and decribes the recent weather, which has been clear. Reed again complains about Durant's interference, noting that "this work would all have been finished long ago if my arrangements had not been interfered with."
October 16, 1864 | Letter
Labor bosses ask Adna Anderson to pressure the Quarter Master to approve the sale of winter clothing to contrabands.
September 16, 1864 | Letter
George Rosser asks that small houses be built for the families of black railroad laborers.
September 13, 1864 | Letter
J. M. Nash requests a guard to ensure that the African American engineer at the Lavergne station is not harassed or his work interfered with.
February 20, 1864 | Letter
E. Benjamin requests passes for black workers so that they may avoid impressment.
February 18, 1864 | Letter
John Isom designates a black church in Nashville to serve as a copper and tin shop.
January 29, 1864 | Letter
An inquiry about re-hiring a blacksmith for the military railroad.
1864 | Letter
Passes for African American railroad employees requested of W. J. Stevens, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, Nashville.
November 19, 1863 | Letter
McCafferty notes damage done to Engine Rapidan by contrabands.
October 13, 1863 | Letter
An engineer/machinist escaped from the South inquires about employment opportunities on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
June 7, 1863 | Letter
In this letter from June 7, 1863, Samuel Reed writes to his wife upon learning of the death of family friend Charles H. Abbott in the war. He notes the heavy losses of Union troops and, referencing Vicksburg, states that hundreds more are added each day. He tells his wife that after the directors of the railroad meet on the 17th of June, he will "know what to do about remaining on the road." Reed also describes an unexpected encounter with three "contrabands from Arkansas" while scouting timberland for purchase.
November 13, 1862 | Letter
E. L. Wentz, of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, asks for suggestions about providing shoes for contraband workers on the railroad.
© 2006–2017
All Rights Reserved
William G. Thomas
Copyright Statement