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Black & African American Railroad Experience

Share your thoughts in this pop-up preview exhibit to inform the permanent exhibition coming soon.

A Work in Progress, Building the Exhibit Together

Our Lives Are Made of Railroad Stories

When you visit a museum, can you relate to the stories being told?  Can you imagine your ancestors when you see historical figures in the exhibits?  If you can, that is representation.    The railroad has shaped our landscape, cultures, and communities.  The story of the railroad is the story of all people,  of all skin colors and ethnicities and identities.  Every person who has lived has a story that enhances our understanding of the past and the present.    Historically, museums have rarely reflected the Black and African American experience accurately.  In 2025, we reviewed our collections and archives for Black and African American railroad experiences. Our researchers identified many important photographs and objects. But the review also showed that our holdings have critical gaps in representing these stories.     This exhibit is a starting point. We invite your questions, memories, and knowledge as we build a larger Black and African American Railroad Exhibit together.     Your story has power.   Your story matters.   Your story has a home here.     — California State Railroad Museum         Engagement Disclaimer: We encourage respectful discussion and discourse. We will remove any feedback that is racist or includes hateful language. Please be respectful, thoughtful, and kind.   

Background: A chair car porter lifting baggage into the overhead bins, 1930s. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Brotherhood & Union

“[The Pullman Porter] was truly an asset to the Pullman Company, for it was the porter’s service that was sold to the traveling public.”  Rosina Corrothers-Tucker, Secretary-Treasurer of Women’s Auxiliary 

Pullman porters worked in Pullman Company luxury cars.  They served passengers, cleaned, prepared sleeping berths, and shined shoes.     Pullman porters are well-known in Black and African American railroad history. Their work was not easy. They worked long hours for the railroad’s lowest wages. Porters depended on tips to earn a living wage. They needed a union to represent their needs.      In 1925, Pullman porters formed the first Black and African American union: the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP).  They asked A. Phillip Randolph, writer and civil rights leader, to lead the BSCP. The BSCP fought for higher wages and reduced work hours. The Pullman Company fired porters who joined the union, so porters’ wives created the Women’s Auxiliary. The women recruited porters for the BSCP.    In 1937, the Pullman Company agreed to increase wages and decrease work hours. The Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters was at the forefront of unionization. They revolutionized the working industry and the nation for Black and African Americans.

Background: Porter pushing a baggage cart on a Southern Pacific train. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Donald J. Allen, Sr. (1897-1986) was a Pullman Porter who worked on the Illinois Central Railroad. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.
Donald J. Allen, Sr. (front row, second from the right) began his career as a Pullman porter. He was later promoted to Pullman porter traveling instructor. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Red Caps and Other Railroad Roles

“If you didn’t work for the railroad, or one of the hotels, or shine shoes, you didn’t work.”  James Brooks, Chair Car Porter 

What other railroad jobs did Black and African Americans work? They worked as firemen and brakemen. They worked in railroad shops and maintenance of way. They worked as cooks, chefs, waiters, Pullman maids, and janitors.     In the late 1800s, some Black and African American men invented another job: Red Cap Porter. Red Cap Porters helped passengers with their baggage. They tied red ribbons around their hats, becoming known as “Red Caps.” These men volunteered at railroad stations, working for tips. In 1937, Red Caps unionized to make the railroads officially hire them.     The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set the minimum wage at 30 cents per hour. To avoid this law, railroads collected Red Caps’ tips and counted them toward the minimum wage.   In 1940, forty-five Red Caps sued the Union Terminal Co. for violating the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Pickett v. The Union Terminal, the court sided with the Red Caps, forcing the company to pay back the tips. Because of this ruling, other companies corrected their payroll practices.

Background: Red Cap carrying baggage at Southern Pacific Railroad’s 3rd St. and Townsend Station in San Francisco, California. 1938. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

During World War II, railroads hired more women and people of color. In the Southern Pacific Sacramento shops, these women formed an integrated crew of engine wipers. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.
This is the only photo in the Museum’s collection of an African American man working as a locomotive engineer. He worked for Mississippi and Alabama Railroad. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Beyond the Railroad Ties

“Headaches and backaches and all kinds of pain  Are not apart from a railroad train.  Tales that are earnest, noble and grand  Are all in the life of a railroad man.”  Wallace Saunders, “The Ballad of Casey Jones” 

In archival photos, Black and African Americans were often depicted by their occupation, not as a person with a story. How did Black and African American people express themselves beyond their railroad work?     Wallace Saunders was an engine wiper for the Illinois Central Railroad. He created the song “The Ballad of Casey Jones” in 1901. The song became famous. Many white artists stole his song without paying Saunders for the rights.     Stuart Tom “S.T.” Jones (1889-1970) worked for railroads in Ellis County, Texas. He was a boiler washer for Houston and Texas Central Railroad and a porter for Southern Pacific Railroad. He wrote a poem, “Engineer Jackson,” which follows his journey across Texas on the train.     Pullman porters popularized the card game “bid whist.” The game combines elements of poker and bridge. Porters used wit, smack-talk, and strategy to bid, bluff, and play the game. The game helped connect the community of porters. It provided communication and relaxation for porters outside their service roles.  

Background: A Black musician playing a banjo inside a lounge car. Courtesy of California State Railroad Library & Archives.

“Engineer Jackson” written by S. T. Jones. The front-page portrait is unidentified. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Facing Segregation

“They should change discrimination rules. We all work together—we should all ride together.” 1952 Southern Pacific Survey Respondent 

The 1896 Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson legalized segregation across the United States.  On the railroads, Black and African American people had to travel in separate cars. They had to sit behind curtains in dining cars or stand in baggage cars. Even when they paid for first-class seats, conductors might move them to second-class.  Black and African American women could not travel alone in Ladies’ cars.  Traveling in second-class cars, they faced cigar smoke and harassment from men.        In our archives, we found records of segregation from 1952. Fifty-two railroad employees answered a Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) survey. When asked about changes to the railroad, nearly half answered that they would end segregation. In the West, SP cars were not segregated. But, as SP trains traveled eastward through El Paso, Texas, Black and African American passengers were forced to move into Jim Crow seating.       While the survey did not change policy, legal segregation on interstate travel ended in 1956. However, in-state trains still discriminated against people based on skin color.

Background: Passengers disembarking a Wadley Southern passenger car in Swainsboro, Georgia, 1946. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Full view of background photo. Wadley Southern car no. 12 in background. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.
Segregated waiting room, 1956. In stations, women and men of color often had only one waiting room that was smaller and further from the trains. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.
Jim Crow car technical drawing, 1938. Notice the differences in amenities between the segregated sides of the partition. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.
Page one of employee responses to Southern Pacific marketing survey, 1952. Respondents were asked, “If you were running Southern Pacific, what changes would you make?” Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Porterettes: Scrubbed Out of History

“We will keep the women in a separate seniority class; in that way they can be eliminated from the service by simply abolishing their positions.” A.J. Hancock, engineer, 1943

Objects are our tangible connection to the past.  But if they do not include personal stories, we miss the full picture. Our archives review revealed an example of this in the story of the Porterettes.      We found Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) correspondence that talked about the need for more chair car porters during WWII. SP’s general manager suggested hiring Black and African American women. They would be called Porterettes.       On August 6, 1943, SP hired five Porterettes. Accounts of their work were positive. Train supervisors reported that cars were cleaner when a Porterette worked there. One superintendent even requested 15 new Porterettes.       Still, some superintendents insisted Porterettes needed extra supervision.  SP’s Vice President accused the women of “distracting the male porters.”  After only 2 months, SP ended the program, firing the Porterettes.         There are no known photos, names, or uniforms related to these women. Who were the Porterettes? What was their experience like? Without their stories, we can only wonder.  

Background: Interior of Southern Pacific chair car no. 2417 in the West Oakland Yards, 1969. The Porterettes worked on cars like this. Courtesy of the California State Railroad Library & Archives.

Preserving YOUR Family Legacy

Individuals’ and communities’ stories are the foundation of history.  How can you preserve your family’s history?  If you have elders, parents, or grandparents, ask them questions!  Try turning on a voice recorder and…   

  1. Have a conversation about their parents, their origins, and their lived experiences.
  2. Ask how the world has changed since they were kids.
  3. Collaborate on a family tree.
  4. Pull out an old box of photos and ask questions:

  • Who is pictured?
  • Why was the picture taken
  • Where was the picture taken?
  • How were they feeling that day?
  • What year was it?
  • How old were they?

Some family members might not be ready to talk about their personal history.  Empathy, care, and respect for space or silence are the best ways to approach these conversations. If you have lived experiences to share, try documenting them.  

  1. Turn on the recorder and talk to relatives and friends about your experiences. You have stories worth remembering!
  2. Write captions in pencil on the backs of photos.
  3. Write about your experiences in a journal. Include full names of everyone mentioned.
  4. Reach out to historic and cultural institutions. Some may have oral history programs and want to preserve your story.

What could you do with your gathered stories?

  1. Organize and label them with names, dates, and places. Store originals safely.
  2. Scan and digitize what you can.
  3. Share copies with your family by making a photo or memory book.
  4. Share your story with a public archive, library, or family history program.
  5. Donate or place materials with a museum, library, or archive.
  6. Remember to protect privacy before sharing publicly or donating. Ask for permission when possible. Consider whether names, addresses, or sensitive details should be kept private.

Your history is invaluable.  

Help inform the permanent Black & African American Railroad Experience Exhibit by answering these questions!

What would you ask a family member about their travel experiences?

Answer this question HERE!

What else do you want to know about the Black and African American railroad experience?

Answer this question HERE!

What concerns or needs would you have before sharing a family story or item with a museum?

Answer this question HERE!

Share YOUR Story!

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Additional Literature on the Black & African American Railroading Experience

  • Chinese Immigrants, African Americans, and Racial Anxiety in the US, 1948-82 by Najia Aarim-Heriot - 2006
  • Brotherhoods of Color. Black Railroad Workers and the Struggle for Equality by Eric Arnesen - 2002
  • Northbound: A Train Ride Out of Segregation by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein - 2020
  • Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945 by Beth Tompkins Bates - 2001
  • Marching Together by Melinda Chateauvert - 1998
  • Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome - 2020
  • My Life as I Have Lived It: The Autobiography of Rosina Corrothers-Tucker, 1881-1987 by Rosina Corrothers-Tucker and C. Bernard Ruffin - 2019
  • Heart & Soul of the Train. Personal Travel Notes from an Amtrak Attendant by Mauris Emeka - 1999
  • A. Philip Randolph by Sally Hanley - 1988
  • An Anthology of Respect. The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees by Lyn Hughes - 2007
  • The Gist of Bid Whist by Lamont Jones - 2024
  • Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson by Blair L. M. Kelley - 2010
  • The Edge of Anarchy: The Railroad Barons, the Gilded Age, and the Greatest Labor Uprising in America by Jack Kelly - 2019
  • Railroads in the African American Experience: A Photographic Journey by Theodore Kornweibel, Jr. - 2020
  • The Racial Railroad by Julia H. Lee - 2022
  • John Henry by Julius Lester - 1999
  • The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr - 2022
  • A. Philip Randolph. Messenger for the Masses (Makers of America) by Lillie Patterson - 1995
  • Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle: Stories of Black Pullman Porters by Jack Santino - 1991
  • African American Railroad Workers of Roanoke. Oral Histories of the Norfolk and Western by Sheree Scarborough - 2014
  • Overground Railroad. The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy A. Taylor - 2020
  • The Pullman Porters and West Oakland by Thomas Tramble and Wilma Tramble - 2007
  • Rising from the Rails. Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class by Larry Tye - 2005
  • Recasting American liberty. Gender, Race, Law, and the Railroad Revolution, 1865-1920 by Barbara Young Welke - 2001
  • The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson - 2011
  • Tearing Down the Color Bar: A Documentary History and Analysis of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters by Joseph F. Wilson - 1989
  • The Porters by Marie A. Young, - 2025
Bookshelf in the in-person exhibit.

Image References

  1. [Porters; 3rd St. Station], BC neg 3824 cn, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat534440. (Cover image and Red Cap and Other Railroad Roles background image).
  2. [Porters], BC neg 3819 cn, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat534435.
  3. [Portrait of Donald J. Allen], CSRM 32334, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat519463.
  4. [Pullman Porter Instructors of the Central Zone], CSRM 29218, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat498501.
  5. [No. 4365 cleaned by female engine wipers], CSRM 1864 , https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat498319.
  6. [Combine and passengers], BC neg 883, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat531491.
  7. [Door in depot leading to colored intrastate waiting room], PRH 5618, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat522796.
  8. Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, 47521, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/techdrawing47521.
  9. [Porters], BC neg 3818 cn, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat534434.
  10. [No. 398, Train crew], CSRM 17847, https://csrm.andornot.net/en/permalink/photocat498551. 

Bibliography

Brotherhood and Union

  1. Rosina Corrothers-Tucker and C. Bernard Ruffin, My Life as I Have Lived It: The Autobiography of Rosina Corrothers-Tucker, 1881-1987 (Heritage Books, 30 December 2019).
  2. Pullman Porters, Jim Crow Museum, 2024, https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/2021/august.htm.
  3. A Pullman Porter’s Life, AARP, 20 February 2025, https://states.aarp.org/virginia/a-pullman-porters-life.
  4. Erin Blakemore, Five Things to Know About Pullman Porters, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 June 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-pullman-porters-180959663/.
  5. The Pullman Porter (New York City: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, 1926), Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180314104708/http://publications.newberry.org/pullman/archive/files/4c057c714cf8431860c75a02d4b1756b.pdf.
  6. Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Union Formed, Library of Congress, https://guides.loc.gov/this-month-in-business-history/august/brotherhood-of-sleeping-car-porters.
  7. Polk’s St. Paul City Directory 1948 (Ramsey County, MN: R. L. Polk & Co., 1948), Copy found at St. Paul Public Library.
  8. Terry Lee Allen Sr. accession record, 2003, Accession Records, California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, CA.

Red Caps and Other Railroad Roles

  1. Willie R. Collins, “’Putting on the Big Hat’: Labor and Lore Among Oakland’s Redcaps,” Sights and Sounds: Essays in Celebration of West Oakland, Anthropological Studies Center Sonoma State University, 1997.
  2. Charging for Red Cap Porter Service, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Series 5, Box 153, folder 17, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  3. Williams et al. v. Jacksonville Terminal Co. Pickett v. Union Terminal Co., 315 U.S. 386, Legal Information Institute, transformed by Public.Resource.Org. www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/315/386.
  4. Copy of verbal opinion by Judge Atwell in US District Court in suit Pickett v. The Union Terminal Co., 28 May 1940, Charging for Red Cap Porter Service, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Series 5, Box 153, folder 17, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  5. Theodore Kornweibel Jr., Railroads in the African American Experience, a Photographic Journey (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).
  6. Bruce A. MacGregor, Portrait of a Silver Lady, the Train They Called the California Zephyr (Boulder: Pruett Publishing Company, 1977)
  7. Portrait of a Silver Lady cassettes, Bruce MacGregor accession record, 2011, Accession Records. California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, CA.

Beyond the Railroad Ties

  1. Wallace Saunders, “The Ballad of Casey Jones” song, 18, Casey Jones’ Trip to the Promised Land, Theodore Kornweibel Collection MS 706, box 16, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum.
  2. Theodore Kornweibel Collection, MS 706: box 16, folder 42: Folklore/reality Casey Jones and Sim Webb, California State Railroad Museum.
  3. The Brave Engineer, directed by Jack Kinney (1950: Walt Disney Productions), digital video.
  4. Stuart Tom Jones, “Engineer Jackson,” Jones, S. T., RLHS Corporate Ephemera Collection, MS 892: Series 2: box 129, folder 19, California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, CA.
  5. “Stewart Theress Jones in the U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Ancestry.com, 2025, www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482/records/14688085.
  6. California State Railroad Museum, host, “Bid Whist of Board: The Pullman Porters' Card Game,” Roundhouse Crosstalk, 5 March 2024, https://open.spotify.com/episode/7xrZfKQukd9NSahEFBQRz4?si=0a3770aa1a554001.
  7. Lamont Jones, The Gist of Bid Whist: The Culturally-Rich Card Game from Black America (Clyde Hill Publishing, 2024).

Facing Segregation

  1. Market Research for SP by Foote Cone and Belding ‘If you were running Southern Pacific, what changes would you make?’, 1952, David W. Long Collection, MS 923, folder 5/7, California State Railroad Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), National Archives, 8 February 2022, www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/plessy-v-ferguson.
  3. Theodore Kornweibel Jr., Railroads in the African American Experience, a Photographic Journey (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010); Miriam Thaggert, Riding Jane Crow (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2022).
  4. Miriam Thaggert, Riding Jane Crow (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2022).
  5. “Racial segregation on US inter-state transport to end – archive, 1955,” The Guardian, 26 November 2020, www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/26/racial-segregation-on-us-inter-state-transport-to-end-archive-1955.
  6. See technical drawings 2 15 C 1561, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, and 2 23 C 1867, Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, for comparison of what a non-Jim Crow chair car in the 1930s on ATSF lines looks like.

Porterettes: Scrubbed Out of History

  1. Hancock, A. J., Conference Memorandum – Women Chair Car Porters, 2 August 1943, Correspondence related to hiring African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1943, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  2. Correspondence related to the potential hiring of African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1944, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 38, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  3. Correspondence related to hiring African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1943, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  4. “Use of women on trains as chair car porters,” L. B. McDonald to A. T. Mercier, 31 August 1943, Correspondence related to hiring African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1943, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  5. “Use of women on trains as chair car porters,” L. B. McDonald to A. T. Mercier, 21 September 1943, Correspondence related to hiring African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1943, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
  6. A. T. Mercier to L. B. McDonald, 24 September 1943, Correspondence related to hiring African American women as chair car porters, 1942-1943, Southern Pacific Company, MS 10, Box 171, folder 42, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.