21 Years On The Erie Railroad

On thinking back, I believe that I had my first indication that there was prejudice against blacks in America while I was working my first summer on the Erie Railroad.

In my small home town there were not many black families. My father and I regularly visited a barber shop that was owned by a black man. Bob, the owner, was a wonderful man. He and my father often fished together, and he had two of the most beautiful daughters you could ever imagine, but quite a bit older than I.

Anyway, during the summer months, I was able to work as many hours as I wanted to, due to, at that time, no damn-fool work rules pertaining to teen-agers. I took the early shift, since it seems that I am a morning person. Number Two, the eastbound "Erie Limited," arrived in our little town at 5:37 a.m. daily, when on time. As I mentioned before, this was also the time that an army camp was located about 5 or 6 miles out of town.

Number Two arrived one fine morning, on time, just as daylight was breaking. The passengers climbed off. Among the passengers was a soldier, a handsome black officer, along with his wife. He looked around a bit, spotted me. "Excuse me, son," he said. "Could you direct me to the colored section of this town?"

I was stumped. We had no colored section. I told him that I couldn't, and why, but offered to call the taxi for him. He said that would be all right, and I did. The taxi arrived, he asked to be taken to the hotel, which the cab driver did.

I later asked someone about this, since it bothered me some. The person I asked had been around the country a bit, filled me in on what might happen in other parts of the country.

Later on, when I had graduated to other jobs and locations on the railroad, I found out about prejudice, and what the soldier meant.