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October 27, 1854 | Letter
William P. Jarman's Affidavit, October 27, 1854
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
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November 1, 1854 | Letter
William M. Sclater's Proposal to the Board of Public Works, November 1, 1854
When labor shortages slowed the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, Claudius Crozet solicited proposals from local contracting agents to supply slave labor.
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October 28, 1854 | Letter
William M. Sclater's Affidavit, October 28, 1854
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
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September 3, 1891 | Newspaper
Untitled [Through the action of the separate coach law]
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.
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September 29, 1883 | Newspaper
Untitled [The railroads of Texas have been harassed]
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."
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May 20, 1875 | Newspaper
Untitled [Grand Jury of the United States District Court Harrisonburg, Va., has found a bill of indictment]
The United States District Court at Harrisionburg, Virginia, hands down an indictment against the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad for the ejection of Annie Smith.
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March 1, 1867 | Document
Travel Order Freedmen's Bureau
A Freedmen's Bureau travel voucher for 107 adults and 16 children (under 12) - "destitute freedpeople" traveling from Charlotte, North Carolina to Plaquemines, Louisiana. Generally, when large numbers of freedpeople travelled, it was under the terms of a labor contract.
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1867 | Document
Travel Accounting, Freedmen's Bureau
An accounting of Freedmen's Bureau-sponsored travel on the Virginia Central Railroad during the first half of 1867. Many emancipated African Americans traveled American railroads to old and new homes in the wake of the Civil War - the Freemen's Burueau paid for much of the travel.
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November 6, 1841 | Newspaper
To The Public
The plight of African Americans and their abolitionist supporters on New England railroads is addressed in depth in this passionate editorial.
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October 27, 1854 | Letter
Thomas W. Wood's Affidavit, October 27, 1854
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
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June 18, 1868 | Newspaper
The Washington and Alexandria Railroad Car
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.
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1893 | Book
The Reason Why the Colored American is not in the World's Columbian Exposition
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.
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December 1, 1856 | Annual report
The Mountain Top Track
This December 1, 1856 report details the high maintenance costs for track running through the Blue Ridge mountains.
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1901 | Book
The Marrow of Tradition
In this excerpt from Charles Chesnutt's novel, the African American doctor protagonist faces the reality of segregation on Southern railroads.
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1890 | Law
The Louisiana Railway Accommodations Act
The Louisiana Railway Accommodations Act mandates "equal but separate" rail travel in the state.
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March 17, 1864 | Book
The Congressional Globe [excerpts]
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.
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May 1, 1863 | Government report
Testimony of Major Erasmus L. Wentz, Superintendent of Norfolk and Petersburg R.R
Major Erasmus L. Wentz, supervising work on the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, testifies as to the quality of contraband labor over that of Irish workers. Wentz notes that the contrabands work for less pay.
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June 24, 1862 | Letter
Telegram regarding travel of enslaved African Americans via railroad.
In this June 24, 1862 telegram between a Mr. Young and E. H. Stokes, Young informs Stokes that he has "sent you by train three (3) negroes," which cost $1,800.
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N.D. | Contract
Slave sale receipt, blank
A blank receipt for individual slaves from E.H. Stokes of Richmond, Virginia.
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1861 | Photograph
Slave pen of Price, Birch & Co., Alexandria, VA: ca. 1860 - ca. 1865
A Matthew Brady image of the slave pen of Price, Birch & Co., Alexandria, Virginia.
