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.
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.
1907 | Book
An excerpt from Jack London's The Road.
1921 | Book
Zitkalà-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) writes about her sense of dislocation on the railroad as she was taken to boarding school and the feelings she had on her return home.
1868 | Book
An excerpt from F. Colburn Adams' The Von Toodleburgs.
1852 | Book
An excerpt from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
1854 | Book
An excerpt from Henry David Thoreau's Walden. The progress represented by the railroad presents a mixed legacy to the rural life Thoreau treasures.
1867 | Book
Published to celebrate the work of women during the Civil War, Woman's Work in the Civil War features the efforts of nurses, reformers, fund-raisers, and wives and mothers. In the section excerpted below, Miss Brayton of Ohio vividly describes the interior of a hospital train and recounts her experiences on one.