Riding Jane Crow: African American Women on the American Railroad

In her book "Riding Jane Crow," Miriam Thaggert explores the experiences of African American women as passengers and workers on the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century railroad, highlighting how the railroad was a contested space of leisure and work. She argues that the railroad represented a technological advancement that was entwined with African American attempts to secure social progress, but that Black women's experiences on or near the railroad illustrate how American technological progress has often meant their ejection or displacement.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 07 June 2022
Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Miriam Thaggert delves into the captivating narratives of African American women, both as passengers and workers, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on the railroad. As Jim Crow laws gained prevalence, forcing Black Americans to endure the indignity of riding in segregated Jim Crow cars, the train compartment transformed into a contested realm where leisure and work intertwined. Riding Jane Crow explores a quartet of significant instances of Black female railroad travel, encompassing the travel accounts of Black female intellectuals like Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell, Black middle-class women who courageously fought for the right to ride in first-class ladies' cars, Black women who served as railroad food vendors, and Black maids aboard Pullman trains. Thaggert compellingly argues that the railroad represented a remarkable technological advancement intricately intertwined with African American efforts to secure social progress. The experiences of Black women on or near the railroad serve as poignant illustrations of how American technological progress has often resulted in their marginalization or displacement. Thus, it is the Black woman who emerges as the most accurate measure of the success of American freedom and privilege, or progress, through her travel experiences.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780252086595