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April 21, 1877 | Newspaper
OUTRAGE IN ALABAMA
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.
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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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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.
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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.
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April 28, 1870 | Legal decision
Draft of Catharine Brown, Evidence Given
Catharine Brown's case--Case No. 4582--was scheduled to go to trial in October 1868 in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, but was delayed because of various procedural motions by the railroad's attorneys. When these motions were denied, the case was tried over three days in March 1870. The all white jury rendered a verdict of guilty against the railroad company and awarded Brown $1,500 in damages. Then, the defendant railroad attorney's sought an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Here is their statement of argument, denying that the railroad used violence or made derogatory remarks. Furthermore, in denying Brown's claims, the railroad argued that there were distinctions between through and local passenger types of service, even on the Baltimore and Ohio, and that separate colored cars on local lines were run at the request of black passengers.
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December 31, 1869 | Legal decision
Seth E. Beedy Deposition
Catharine Brown's attorneys deposed two white men who were on the train with Brown and witnessed her expulsion from the cars in Alexandria. Both lived in Maine and were deposed in December 1869. Seth Beedy was traveling with Benjamin Hinds, who knew and recognized "Kate" Brown. Beedy testified, "she was ejected by violence and that alone."
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December 31, 1869 | Legal decision
Benjamin H. Hinds Deposition
Catharine Brown's attorneys deposed two white men who were on the train with Brown and witnessed her expulsion from the cars in Alexandria. Both lived in Maine and were deposed in December 1869. Benjamin Hinds' testimony was particularly significant because he described in detail the violence he witnessed, and because he knew Brown "since January 1866," perhaps from her work in the U.S. Capitol, and tried to intervene on her behalf.
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June 12, 1869 | Illustration
Pacific Railroad Complete
This image from the June 12, 1869 issue of Harper's Weekly presents a satirical look at race and the completion of the Union Pacific railroad.
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May 29, 1869 | Illustration
Work on the Last Mile of the Pacific Railroad—Mingling of European with Asiatic Laborers
This image from the May 29, 1869 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts laborers of both European and Asian descent working on the final mile of the Pacific Railroad.
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March 4, 1868
Catharine Brown, Complaint
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.
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March 4, 1868 | Legal decision
Catharine Brown, Plaintiff's Prayers
A brief description of the judgement Catherine Brown hoped for as the jury decided her case.
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December 7, 1867 | Illustration
Central Pacific Railroad—Chinese Laborers at Work
This image from the December 7, 1867 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Chinese laborers working on the Central Pacific Railroad.
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1867 | Annual report
Report on the Condition and Prospects of the Southern Railroad of Mississippi
This report details the financial and material state of the Southern Railroad Company in 1867.
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September 11, 1865 | Annual report
Circular to the Bondholders and Creditors of the Southern Railroad Company, of the State of Mississippi
This September 11, 1865 circular reports on the condition and financial status of the Southern Railroad Company after the Civil War.
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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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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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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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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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September 12, 1863
Letter from Sally A. Kendrick to Jennie Reed, September 12, 1863
In this letter from September 12, 1863, Sally A. Kendrick writes to her friend Jennie Reed, wife of Samuel Reed, discussing the recent death of her brother and the war. She speculates that the war will not end until slavery is abolished, but notes that she did not think so until after the fall of Fort Sumter. She states that she is no abolitionist, does not believe in "the equality of the races," and does not "want them here among us," but does "want to see them free and colonized some where." She shares several ideas regarding what should be done with the slaves after they are freed.
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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.
