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April 4, 1892 | Journal
Our Civil Rights
As African American civil rights are threatened with increasing segregation, a writer for a noted African American publication analyzes the situation.
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August 22, 1866 | Document
Order for travel, Freedmen's Bureau
A type of travel document issued for travel under the auspices of the Freemen's Bureau. This August 22, 1866, voucher authorizes travel from Washington, D. C. to Southwick, Massachusetts on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. 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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1864 | Photograph
No. 1. Steam engines "Telegraph" and "O. A. Bull," Atlanta, Ga., 1864
No. 1. Steam engines ?Telegraph? and ?O. A. Bull? remained in position amid the ruins of a Confederate roundhouse in Atlanta in 1864. The South possessed some of the most beautiful depots and railroad facilities in the nation in 1861. Sherman?s campaigns sought to dismantle the Confederate railroad system and in so doing deny any claim to modernity and progress. African American workers stand atop the old Georgia Railroad flatcar.
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1855 | Book
My Bondage and My Freedom
In this excerpt from My Bondage and My Freedom, Frederick Douglass recounts the segregation of Northern railcars and the attitudes of Northern passengers.
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1882 | Book
Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself
In this excerpt, Douglass relates the details of his dangerous escape from slavery. Traveling the railroad with borrowed papers, he flees to New York.
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January 29, 1864 | Letter
Letter from W. W. McCafferty to J. H. Devereaux, January 29, 1864
An inquiry about re-hiring a blacksmith for the military railroad.
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November 19, 1863 | Letter
Letter from W. W. McCafferty to F. P. Lord, November 19, 1863
McCafferty notes damage done to Engine Rapidan by contrabands.
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October 16, 1864 | Letter
Letter from station/road masters to Adna Anderson, October 16, 1864
Labor bosses ask Adna Anderson to pressure the Quarter Master to approve the sale of winter clothing to contrabands.
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December 16, 1868 | Letter
Letter from Samuel B. Reed to Wife and Family, December 16, 1868
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."
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June 7, 1863 | Letter
Letter from Samuel B. Reed to Jennie Reed, June 7, 1863
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.
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April 20, 1854 | Letter
Letter from John Wood Jr. to Colonel Claudius Crozet, April 20, 1854
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the slaveholders retained legal counsel to negotiate a settlement with the Board of Public Works.
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February 18, 1864 | Letter
Letter from John Isom to Daniel Craig McCallum, February 18, 1864
John Isom designates a black church in Nashville to serve as a copper and tin shop.
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September 13, 1864 | Letter
Letter from J. M. Nash to Adna Anderson, September 13, 1864
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.
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September 16, 1864 | Letter
Letter from George S. Rosser to Adna Anderson, September 16 , 1864
George Rosser asks that small houses be built for the families of black railroad laborers.
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November 13, 1862 | Letter
Letter from E. L. Wentz to Daniel Craig McCallum, October 13, 1862
E. L. Wentz, of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, asks for suggestions about providing shoes for contraband workers on the railroad.
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February 20, 1864 | Letter
Letter from E. Benjamin to Adna Anderson, February 20, 1864
E. Benjamin requests passes for black workers so that they may avoid impressment.
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October 13, 1863 | Letter
Letter from Clifford Percival to John H. Devereux, October 13, 1863
An engineer/machinist escaped from the South inquires about employment opportunities on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad.
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November 5, 1854 | Letter
Letter from Claudius Crozet to the Virginia Board of Public Works, November 5, 1854
Claudius Crozet comments on the problems with white labor on the Tunnel project, and the possibilities for increasing the use of black slaves.
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December 28, 1854 | Letter
Letter from Claudius Crozet to the Virginia Board of Public Works, December 28, 1854
In one of his regular reports to the Board of Public Works, Claudius Crozet comments on the use of enslaved labor and the use of "time" that its employment enables. Because slaves were worked longer hours, often in gangs, and not paid by the hour, unlike whites, they could be transferred from one task to the next until their annual hire was renegotiated with the slaveholder.
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May 6, 1850 | Letter
Letter from Claudius Crozet to the President and Directors of the Blue Ridge Railroad Co., May 6, 1850
Claudius Crozet keeps the Board informed of the project's progress on the Blue Ridge and measures that progress in numbers of "hands" employed and the amount of rock and earth moved.
