Research Catalog

Slave labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad

Title
Slave labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad / Mary E. Lyons.
Author
Lyons, Mary E.
Publication
  • Charleston, SC : History Press, 2020.
  • ©2020

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TextUse in library Sc E 21-595Schomburg Center - Research & Reference

Details

Description
159 pages : illustrations, maps; 23 cm
Summary
Between 1849 and 1859, Virginia raced to pierce the Blue Ridge Mountains by rail and reach the Ohio River. At least 300 enslaved people labored involuntarily toward that goal, along with 1,500 Irish immigrants. The state leased the labor of enslaved Virginians from local slaveholders, including four connected with nearby University of Virginia. Blue Ridge Tunnel and Blue Ridge Railroad historian Mary E. Lyons explored hundreds of primary documents to write the first nonfiction book about slave labor on a specific antebellum railroad. She shares hundreds of enslaved people's names, traces where they toiled along the line and describes their backbreaking--and sometimes fatal--tasks.
Series Statement
American Heritage
Uniform Title
American heritage (Charleston, S.C.)
Subject
  • Blue Ridge Railroad Company (Va.) > History
  • Blue Ridge Railroad Company (Virginia)
  • 1800-1899
  • Slavery > Virginia > History > 19th century
  • Slave labor > Virginia > History > 19th century
  • Railroad construction workers > Virginia > History > 19th century
  • Railroads > Virginia > History > 19th century
  • Railroad construction workers
  • Railroads
  • Slave labor
  • Slavery
  • Virginia
Genre/Form
History.
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Introduction -- 1849-50 -- 1851-52 -- 1853 -- 1854 -- 1855-56 -- 1857-58 -- 1859-65 -- 1866-95 -- 1939-2008 -- Epilogue -- Appendix 1. Transcript of Farrow-Hansbrough Contract -- Appendix 2. Williams obituaries -- Appendix 3. Sections, contractors and labor force -- Appendix 4. Names of enslaved laborers.
Call Number
Sc E 21-595
ISBN
  • 9781467144902
  • 1467144908
OCLC
1124243431
Author
Lyons, Mary E., author.
Title
Slave labor on Virginia's Blue Ridge Railroad / Mary E. Lyons.
Publisher
Charleston, SC : History Press, 2020.
Copyright Date
©2020
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Series
American Heritage
American heritage (Charleston, S.C.)
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Chronological Term
1800-1899
Research Call Number
Sc E 21-595
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