Curator's note | At the beginning of the 20th century when racial prejudice barred black workers from many jobs, the railways were one of the few places where black men could find steady work as sleeping car porters, albeit at low pay and under bad working conditions. Some felt such employment supported widespread racist beliefs that blacks were only suitable for menial or servile duties. Rejected by the white Canadian Brotherhood for Railroad Employees, the porters in 1946 founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in Canada,the first Canadian trade union to be organized by and for African Canadians. Only in 1955 did the Canadian Pacific Railway begin to hire blacks as conductors. |
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Title | Black Railway Porter |
Date | June 1936 |
Physical extent | 1 photograph : b&w ; 8 x 13 cm |
Scope and content | Image of a Black railway porter posing for photograph at Canadian National(CN) train station in Saskatoon, SK. |
Repository | Saskatoon Public Library Local History Room |
Fonds/collection | General Photographs Collection | Credits | Wen, John |
Retrieval information | Trains, PH-95-78-35 |
Occupation(s) |
Transportation Railways |
Theme(s) |
Transportation & Delivery |
Database ID | 36634 |