Oregon State University
Oregon African American Railroad Porters Oral History Collection


Railroad Senior Citizens Association Meeting, Part 2. April 12, 1984

Railroad Senior Citizens Association Meeting, Part 2

April 12, 1984

Location:  Location Unknown.

In this recording, retired railroad workers continue discussing conditions on the railroad. A cook describes working on train cars infested with chinches (bedbugs). There is some discussion about white men with no bartending experience being hired as bartenders while there were black workers who knew the job but wouldn’t be given the title or pay for it. There is also mention of stewardesses who were hired to care for passengers’ babies onboard, but were engaging in prostitution instead.