Riding Jane Crow: African American Women on the American Railroad by Miriam Thaggert

Riding Jane Crow: African American Women on the American Railroad
Miriam Thaggert
208 pages
University of Illinois Press

From Goodreads: Miriam Thaggert illuminates the stories of African American women as passengers and as workers on the nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century railroad. As Jim Crow laws became more prevalent and forced Black Americans to "ride Jim Crow" on the rails, the train compartment became a contested space of leisure and work. Riding Jane Crow examines four instances of Black female railroad the travel narratives of Black female intellectuals such as Anna Julia Cooper and Mary Church Terrell; Black middle-class women who sued to ride in first class "ladies’ cars"; Black women railroad food vendors; and Black maids on Pullman trains. Thaggert argues that the railroad represented a technological advancement that was entwined with African American attempts to secure social progress. Black women's experiences on or near the railroad illustrate how American technological progress has often meant their ejection or displacement; thus, it is the Black woman who most fully measures the success of American freedom and privilege, or "progress," through her travel experiences.

My local library came through for me again, specifically ordering a university press book that piqued my interest. How much did I know about Black women and the railroad? Admittedly, not much beyond the Great Migration, and for some reason the cover really captured my attention as well as the feminized version of Jim Crow in the title. 

There was much to uncover that I had never considered before. For example, the porters on the Pullman trains are ubiquitous but how have I gone this long not knowing about the Black maids! Their stories and accompanying photographs were fascinating, as was the introduction to activist Pauli Murray later on in the book, who introduced the phrase "Jane Crow" used in the title.

As with any good history book, something specific caught my attention and left me wanting more. Thaggert mentions work by Psyche A. Williams-Forson when writing about the food vendors who sold quick meals to travelers through train windows. These women were a major part of the local economy, purchasing vast amounts of chicken, flour, and other ingredients to cook and sell. Thaggert cites Williams-Forson when discussing how women were able to purchase homes with their profits, and so now I have the books Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs and Eating While Black on my shelves waiting for their turn to be read.

I think any reader with an interest in Black history will find this book useful, especially those who like to study the intersectionality between race and gender. The book is meticulously researched and noted and I highly recommend it.