Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey |  | Author: Theodore Kornweibel Jr.
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $40.00
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Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 307521
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 568
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.2
Dimensions (in): 10 x 8.8 x 1.6
ISBN: 0801891620
Dewey Decimal Number: 331.6396073
EAN: 9780801891625
ASIN: 0801891620
Publication Date: January 27, 2010
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Product Description
This captivating book takes readers on an illustrated tour of the black railroad experience from slavery to Amtrak. With almost 200 images -- many never before published -- Theodore Kornweibel, Jr., examines the significant contributions of African Americans to the building, maintenance, operation, and profitability of the American railway system. The history of American railroads, Kornweibel makes clear, cannot be separated from African American history. For over a century, railroading provided the most important industrial occupation for blacks. Brakemen, firemen, porters, chefs, mechanics, laborers -- African American men and women have been essential to the daily operation and success of American railroads. The connections between railroads and African Americans extend well beyond employment. Civil rights protests beginning in the late 19th century challenged railroad segregation and job discrimination; the major waves of black migration to the North depended almost entirely on railroads; and railroad themes and imagery penetrated deep into black art, literature, drama, folklore, and music. Kornweibel's visual presentation of this rich history brings to life the hundreds of thousands of blacks who toiled for decades on America's great rail systems. Each chapter of text focuses on a different occupation or railroading experience, some peculiar to blacks. Together, the evocative images and the complementary essays supply a comprehensive and powerful survey of the social, cultural, political, and economic influence of African Americans on railroads and of railroads on the black community. Few today recall the importance of blacks to the American railroad industry, even though most black families have railroading ancestors. These stories of hardship and heroism, exploitation and endurance, anger and artistry illuminate a rich heritage and fascinating chapter in American history.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
 Large and Comprehensive November 24, 2009
Michelle R (Minnesota)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The books is chock-full of history and the pictures and artifacts are priceless. It's amazing that this book hasn't been written before, but this is an invaluable resource in truly understanding the history of this country and the history of railroads. A debt is owed to the people who literally built this country and made it possible to move supplies and people. To ignore this portion of history, because it's embarrassing, is to not understand who we are as a people today, and what we owe to those who came before us. If you're a history buff, a railroad buff, or are interested in African American history, I can't imagine a better book to add to your library! This is a weighty book, both in scope and literal size, that makes it a treat for someone who wants lots of depth.
Not Your Typical Railroad Coffee Table Book - But A Must Read October 26, 2009
Jeffrey N. Fritz (San Francisco, CA United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
That African Americans played a major role in the building and operating of US railroads is a greatly under appreciated fact. To some extent, there is an awareness that African Americans were the porters and the cooks on the railroads. But in reality, the functions that they performed were not only numerous--they were essential. And this is the point that repeatedly comes through in Theodore Kornweibel Jr.'s book, "Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey."
To illustrate his point, Kornweibel offers a series of engrossing photographs, many from his own personal collection, along with a text that is well written and complements the photos. Most striking is a photo taken on the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad in 1912. About this photo, Kornweibel comments, "If a single photograph could typify the African American railroad heritage, it might be this (one)...Aside from the engineer leaning out of the locomotive cab, every other individual (in the photo) is black, from the brakeman on the pilot to the fireman on the tender..."
His point is well taken. But this only touches the surface of this engaging book. In its chronologically arranged pages you will find eye-opening photos clearly documenting the extent that African Americans made the railroads possible and the price that they paid for doing so. The book also delves into the equal, but separate segregation practices by the railroads for both passengers and crew. It effectively brings out how African American Railroad workers worked alongside but in socially unequal relationships with their white co-workers.
Refreshingly, both men and woman's roles in the railroads are detailed--especially during World War II. The book is balanced showing both the hardships endured by African Americans and the pride with which they served. Kornweibel points out that, "(African American) railroaders were often respected members of their communities."
My only disappointment is that, while the book is heavily annotated, there is no index. However, this may be because the version that I have is an advance copy. One hopes that the final version will offer a comprehensive index. A book of this historical importance demands no less.
This book will make you angry. It will inspire you. Most importantly, it will make you think. This is not your typical railroad coffee table book. Far from it! But, it should absolutely be a part of your book collection.
Conversational, educational, and inspirational December 7, 2009
Shamontiel L. Vaughn (Chicago)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Whenever the conversation about reparations starts and people say, "All of those people who suffered from segregation and racism due to slavery are dead," these are the types of books I like to use as references. This book details ridiculously hostile racism even so late as the 1950s and 1960s, and these folks are NOT all dead. This book was well-researched and fascinating to check out. I'm surprised at the amount of photos that were captured during these times, but I liked looking at those as well. Originally I wanted to check out this book because I heard so much about the Pullman Porters during my employment with "The Chicago Defender," and I knew this book would mention Abbott and the newspaper. Once I scrambled for that information, then I went through the rest of the book, but of course the Pullman Porters' section was still my favorite, especially the tales about how black people refused to answer to "boy" and "George." These are those books that are left out of American history but ideal for an American history course, especially an African-American history course. I highly recommend it.
TOP QUALITY history! Engrossing subject matter, a railroad MUST read! November 4, 2009
P. Eisenman (Upper Michigan)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a top-notch, well researched and documented history volume. If you like railroading or trains--even model railroading--this book is a must read! Perhaps, like me, you've focused on the trains and never really thought in much depth about the men who worked on the railroads.
This book will give you a new perspective. Author Theodore Kornweibel, Jr. presents a WELL-DOCUMENTED, UNBIASED history of the important role that african-americans played in the story of railroads in the U.S. and the more-often-than-not shoddy treatment they received in return. I found it fascinating and hard to put down. And a book that, even after I've finished it, still pops into mind and makes me think. That's effective history writing.
LOTS of fantastic railroad photos that you've probably never seen anywhere else. Many first hand anecdotes make the stories personal. Perhaps that is what makes this book so effective. It's not just a dry recitation of names and dates, but real people, doing real work, sometimes succeeding against all odds, but all to frequently suffering gross injustice, if not injury or even death. Often tragic, but inspiring, too.
Covers from the antebellum era through the modern, but primary emphasis seems to be in the period of the 1880s through the depression and WWII eras. Brakemen, porters, station workers, laborers, cooks, firemen and more. Kornweibel covers different jobs by chapter, working from the past to the present. Cultural and social aspects are also covered--including a section on literature, poetry and art. That was the one chapter that made me snooze, but that's just me because I'm much too firm of a believer in "say what you mean, mean what you say" to get ANY enjoyment out of anybody's poetry! Hidden meanings in poetry and literature--I don't understand it, don't want to understand it. BUT THAT'S JUST ME!
Kornweibel also covers women workers and racism as practiced (or not) by individual railroads, with the Central of Georgia rating special attention for it's persistance with segregation even into the late 1960s.
Railroads which feature prominantly throughout the book include: ILLINOIS CENTRAL; GULF, MOBILE and OHIO; PENNSYLVANIA; B&O; C&O; NORFOLK & WESTERN; SOUTHERN; SEABOARD AIR LINES; NEW YORK CENTRAL; and as mentioned before--the CENTRAL OF GEORGIA. Other roads covered in lesser detail include: Pere Marquette; AT&SF; Union Pacific; Southern Pacific; Great Northern; Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; MKT "Katy"; and Florida East Coast. Numerous short lines and other class A roads are also mentioned.
I give FIVE STARS to RAILROADS IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. Excellent reference work if you are interested in African-American history, race relations, railroading, industrial history, labor relations. EXCELLENT READING if you just love history!!
Fabulous Contribution to American History November 4, 2009
Theresa Welsh (Ferndale, Michigan, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This hefty book - over 500 oversize pages - is a fascinating compendium of information about the railroad business and how it affected the lives of African Americans. By extension, it is a wonderful window on American history, as the building of railroad lines that criss-crossed the US opened up the possibility of easy travel for all Americans.
What I didn't realize before reading this book is that many miles of railroad tracks were actually built by slaves. In the South, slaves were rented to railroad companies during periods when they were not needed for agricultural work. They did the heavy labor of clearing land and laying railroad tracks. Later, after Emancipation, chain gangs were used, with prisoners forced to work under such brutal conditions that many died.
Author Kornweibel takes the reader through the early days of railroading and into the 20th century era of Pullman sleeper cars, elegant dining cars, and incredible personal service from all-black porters, maids, cooks, waiters, and Red Caps. Mostly, these hard-working employees served white patrons, carrying their bags, cooking their meals, shining their shoes and performing whatever services were requested. Behind the scenes, blacks worked as firemen, brakemen and many jobs that no longer exist. I learned a great deal about railroad work from this well-researched book.
Although the book is subtitled "A Photographic Journey" and indeed features an amazing collection of wonderful photographs, the text is just as valuable; it is extremely detailed, drawing information from many sources, including railroad company magazines and letters these companies received from their passengers and employees during the era of passenger travel. It is so meticulously researched that many stories of individual railroad workers include names and background information. The author's empathy with these people, who come alive in his narrative, is obvious.
But clearly Mr. Kornweibel did not write this book just to tell us stories about the railroad business. He uses this industry to illustrate the history of discrimination against African Americans, showing how it affected their employment in railroad jobs (confined to the jobs whites didn't want), their experience as passengers (made to ride in "Jim Crow" sections), and the paternalistic and often insulting attitude of their white employers. Railroads encouraged the idea that blacks were natural servants, who were well suited to work that involved serving others. They also printed cartoons and jokes in their company magazines that showed caricature portrayals of blacks. These things were all part of the cultural patterns of the first half of the 20th century.
One interesting historical note is the role of unions in denying blacks the chance for promotion. If an African American worked in a job that also employed whites, the union, which was usually hostile to black employment, tried to get them excluded from that job category. Blacks sometimes formed their own unions, but the railroad would only recognize one union, and that was the white union. Only when blacks had a monopoly on a job category (as with the Pullman porters) could they form a union that effectively represented them.
Many of the pictures and the text illustrate the inconvenience and extra expense of segregation, which dictated separate facilities for black and white, both in train stations and on the trains. As things began to change in the late 1950s and 1960s, federal rulings upheld the right of blacks to equal treatment with whites. Trains, which passed from segregated southern states to northern states, often would change policies as the train crossed boundaries. In some cases, blacks had to move from their seat or sleeping berth because the train had moved from a non-segregated to a segregated state. Trains used partitions in some cars to separate black and white and simply removed the partitions as the train entered northern states.
The most poignant part of this book for me was the discussion of the train as a metaphor for freedom. Consider the use of the term "underground railroad" for the system of helping slaves escape to the north. The author shows how the trains that passed through rural southern areas became for blacks, both before and after slavery, a symbol of going to a better place. For many, it was more than a symbol of escaping racism; it became the actual means of moving to the north. Whole villages of people moved together during the Great Migration of the World War I years, taking the trains north to jobs in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and other cities where workers were needed. These places were the Exodus to the Promised Land, and for passengers, who were "Bound for Glory," crossing the Ohio River was "crossing the Jordan." Many celebrated the crossing by singing hymns. The railroad was also a metaphor for religious belief, as Jesus became the Engineer, taking them to heaven. The author cites numerous poems, hymns and popular songs involving railroad imagery. Artists too portrayed the railroads in their pictures of African American experiences.
Today, racial segregation seems like an incredibly stupid idea, based on the notion that one race of people is superior to another. The very concept of race no longer holds much meaning, but there was a time when a definition of whether you were black or not was crucially important. Homer Plessy, who was the defendant in the Plessy v. Ferguson court case which established "separate but equal" was only one-eighth black - enough for him to be denied a seat on the train!
According to the author, to the southerner of the pre-Civil Rights era, it was unacceptable for a person classified as black to supervise a white person. This thinking extended even to baseball teams (railroad employees formed teams and leagues). Black teams had to play only other black teams to avoid the humiliation of a white team being beaten by a black team. The author continually stresses the demeaning quality of these practices for African Americans, but he also quotes many black railroad workers who remember their railroad service with pride. Many of the Pullman porters waited on celebrities and Presidents, and their recollections about huge tips from people like Bing Crosby make for entertaining reading.
This book will be of great value to scholars for years to come, but ordinary people who want to know more about the hidden history of the United States will also enjoy reading it. This is an incredible collection of important historical information you will not find anywhere else.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 25
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