November 23, 1855 | Contract
This 1855 receipt describes the purchase of a young female slave and her two children.
December 23, 1853 | Contract
In December 1853, George A. Farrow and David Hansbrough signed a contract with the Blue Ridge Railroad to provide fifty slaves to assist in the construction of the Blue Ridge railroad tunnel.
February 22, 1827 | Contract
This February 22, 1827 bill describes the sale of a dozen South Carolina slaves—"Dolly, Jacke, Jemmy, Grace, Dinah, Liddy, John and an infant, Paul, Hagar, Jack and Jane"—from "the estate of Arnoldus Vanderhorst, deceased" to Edward Frost for $3,020. Frost was President of the Blue Ridge Rail Road in South Carolina.
N.D. | Contract
A blank receipt for individual slaves from E.H. Stokes of Richmond, Virginia.
1901 | Book
In this excerpt from Charles Chesnutt's novel, the African American doctor protagonist faces the reality of segregation on Southern railroads.
1893 | Book
Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Irvine Garland Penn, Ferdinand L. Barnett, and Frederick Loudin published The Reason Why in response to the exclusion of Afircan Americans and their contributions to American life from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The excerpt included here is part of Wells' contribution and includes the Tennessee separate coach law.
1892 | Book
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.
1882 | Book
In this excerpt, Douglass relates the details of his dangerous escape from slavery. Traveling the railroad with borrowed papers, he flees to New York.
March 17, 1864 | Book
In these excerpts from a Senate debate over regulations for a District of Columbia street railroad, many typical arguments for and against public segregation are aired in language that also reveals attitudes towards race and equality as the Civil War continued.
1861 | Book
In these excerpts from her memoir, Harriet Jacobs writes of the segregation and prejudice she faced in the North almost immediately after escaping from slavery.
1855 | Book
In this excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglass recounts the segregation of Northern railcars and the attitudes of Northern passengers.
1867 | Annual report
This report details the financial and material state of the Southern Railroad Company in 1867.
September 11, 1865 | Annual report
This September 11, 1865 circular reports on the condition and financial status of the Southern Railroad Company after the Civil War.
December 1, 1856 | Annual report
This December 1, 1856 report details the high maintenance costs for track running through the Blue Ridge mountains.
1850 | Annual report
When proposed and the first efforts made in 1850, the Blue Ridge Tunnel was to be the longest tunnel in North America. Claudius Crozet, as chief engineer, warns his Board of Public Works against comparing its progress with other tunnels. The condition of the rock and the scale of the project were different and unprecedented, respectively. Crozet tries to educate the Board on the nature of the project.
1848 | Annual report
This collection of reports given at the first annual meeting of the stockholders of the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company in 1848 includes extensive information about the financial status of the railroad. Whit'l P. Tunstall, president of the company, also presents an extensive argument for Virginia's railroad development, predicated on the successes of railroads in other states.
March 31, 1883
The expulsion of an African American preacher from a Georgia rail car draws the ire of Philadelphia citizens.
March 4, 1868
Catharine Brown filed suit against the Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Railroad in March 1868, arguing that a month earlier she was forcibly and violently ejected from the ladies car in Alexandria, Virginia, because of her color. She sought damages of $20,000 to pay for her medical care and to compensate for the injustice of segregation and discrimination. Brown's original petition focused on the railroad's duty as a common carrier and on Brown's first-class ticket which permitted her to ride in the ladies car.