Thank you for joining us for c two nights discussion with our independent scholar and author tonightsnd book boss of the groups perk up along as part of a series of programs at our current exhibition about harlem if you have not had a chance to look at the exhibition will be up through the end of december there are all these things you will hear about tonight and historicalbout tonight and knowledge examining black place making offering institutions committed to Community Education and innovation in political engagement, global perspective, culture affirmation, and creativity. To highlight include the brotherhood of the first union for black workers particularly the pullman porters work also find selections f from the collection that we recently acquired perk also lee also items that are so much more. Save the date november 13 we will have a conversation with curator jeff green. Event taking a place in december in conversation about making community. Talking about how the black community is hosted inom partnership with the barbershop chronicles who we was a rich tapestry of fatherson relationships and black masculinity set to black afro beat and score. Please pick up one of our brochures we will have a book signing following the conversation a new york city based independent historian and author and the owner every conduct reneged reconnecting through toxin tours and on song areas over manhattan the exhibition script is the memphis right Civil Rights Museum and interpretive signage and west. Harlem one of the municipal societies celebrating the waterfront location of the first book manhattanville the current book is a biography a division of ww norton from Columbia University community scholarsmm program the center of biography and residency his new book as he reintroduces a figure who live between 1878 in 1948 in the senior based the most railroad station that had the life blood of the new Negro Movement and to the story of the 19 twenties bracket we will first hear from eric and then we will sit down to have a conversation. Please welcome him to the podium. [applause] thank you to the Schomburg Center for being the stewards of such an incredible collection and valuable to my research on thisle m book. Research on thisle m book. Talk. September 14th 19 oh 92 reform us all on 53rd street despite the growing exodus this was still a hub of black life only recently promoted to the chief attendant official category name was rarely used by travelersat even they refer to themselves by the conspicuous headwear. Reds. Caps. But this evenings assembly seemed more formal and we summoned them to the church to organize the association of Grand Central terminal. That itself the number of occupational and Emotional Distress is fueled this particular gathering working in and around fully functioning Railroad Service while construction crews built up the new terminal complex an accident claimed one of the men and more personally succumbing in the hospital a week later. That makes red caps truly selfaware they were uninsured independent upon tips. And with the news influential positions to call to action to organize their own Benevolent Association and is sickness or injury or death with the new Mutual Aid Society and his assistant chief then study for the occupation thrusting them into history as sergeant in arms. This ist 19 oh nine. And with that grassroots base labor force building out from Grand Central station and distinct from the collective bargaining based organization. Which in turn risks inspire the red caps the National Union movement and we have the greater harlem and to start something from the introduction. Are rightly celebrated Tour De Force to captivate the traveling public for more than a century on february 12th 1913 the largestew railroad station built by the american firms and showcases the host of such artistic talents whose monumental sculpture above a tiffany clock and charles has a mind wandering traveler to the blue heavens. And the civic landing in new york and masterwork of innovative design and engineering. And those cascading rams and shadows belies the operating model the servitude of africanamerican workers in this case it was rooted in the american tradition of racial exploitation comfortably regarded their territory as an enlightened refuge from those practices of the south or the bygone era. However 20th century had its own policies notably Grand Central to deploy a singular core at baggage quarters who at times numbered in the several hundreds for go the nature writer eb white noted to be in the class of beast and burden often backbreaking and demeaning labor to the stations functional b efficiency and it is inevitable the red cap order system is the model for numerous stations across the nation categorically identifiable by their complexion the black workforce embodied americas color line the bylaws and amendments and social attitudes to close the doors to the b blacks the color line was a deep seated contrivance over generations a panoply of contradictions only intuitively but yet as palpable as a rope it could be woven into the collective selfconscious by social mores or deliberate legislative acts. But blacks found ways to circumvent and mitigate an impasse from the color line in the event into opportunities leverage. Such was the case at Grand Central where the black workers means proverbial this speakingng to make a way out of no way. Into be flourished as those that originated at Grand Central depot with a dozen fight staff to become exclusively black by 19 oh five a source of pride the job was coveted by and associated with africanamerican men educated whites shunning and status to recognize it as an employment option in the era of racial barriers and that Grand Central africanamerican College Students a means to pave their way through school men who created this opportunity to secure a foothold was James H William those that Grand Central terminal is steeped in urgent but one urban legend formally enslaved 1878 of those red cap attendance in 19 oh three the former public reminder to carry baggage but were stationed passengers began to take on a new definition starting 19 oh nine the chief reporter or a red cap from Grand Central terminal with the firstot africanamerican officer and remained there until his death in 1940 in his capacity to embody a unique juncture between black and White America the tenure makes that monumental station not only a gateway to the greatest city but just as much a gateway to the nations greatest africanamerican neighborhood of harlem. For nearly half a centuryn those that were relegated to the lowest stratum of the force although always and trickle into the Railroad System like the pullman porters were also to the station bound red caps were crucial to that decision of the terminal to woven into that experience of earliest 20th Century Railroad travel. To coincide with those key periods of the soul troll central cultural in the everchanging metropolis of new yorkk city and post civil war america and that optimism of the reconstruction era active if unassuming agents of that ideological cause of racial uplift with white prejudice through selfimprovement civic interest in the arts in the 19 twenties of the harlem renaissance follow him through two world wars. Ingeniously transformed the selfeffacing job into a coveted Employment Opportunity as the tribune would observe scores of promising that young strapped college men on their way to work under our red cap his luggage porters many were greek letter to men upon that example they form for themselves when categorically barred as purse on unknown greta the academic credentials notwithstanding as well as the unschooled brothers worked as an salaried neighbors they were ubiquitous throughout the concourse and toadying the golf club of those whom they depended upon four tips while about race and labor of resourcefulness and philanthropy over the course of his life under the most Seismic Shift in history at the new york central employee as a society italy and sports heroes but to stand out conspicuously as the chief who created a platform to create to sustain black students and to showcase in that light and in that capacity to be applied to both baggage and handlers part of the harlem renaissance the era of the cultural literary and artistic expression also a renaissance of vibrant business andan industry as race enterprises as well is dispirited civic movements in which chief williams was noted. Admiring as a forthright advocate of the community the day after he died the journalist had to go to chicago so headed down to grant certain loan Grand Central boarding that train which was advertised on the main concourse the vast majority of passengers went to chicago did not know about williams death and did not id step some of the caps off couple of strangers some old passengers and friends of the chief that they had read about his death in the morning paper. They were crying. So i wondered whom is this black man from friends and strangers that was a dogged but fascinating task although not a man of letters and in the chronicles of his time to take shape and flush out and breathe. [applause] thank you. You already know what you have to do at the end of this progra program. Will be going into chief Williams Book because thats the title that you carry and also i want to take a moment to give a special shout out and thanks to margaret who is the great great granddaughter of who is here today. [applause] so how does your bio that you have an amazing job to illuminate the existence of leeveryday people and the impact of their work on society so you say it is a fascinating task so have you unearthed to develop this rich composition of a man like chief williams sometimes the easy part is the names andeasy part is newspaper articles sometimes its just a name on the list of people who were attending a party. And more often than not if you are searching for someone or something to find what you are looking fornd right away for something that captures your attention. And in that way there are different strategies and non strategies for digging up and finding people. And then to listen to peoples aims and what you shoulde know and with access to database particularly when there was a gathering or o an event it was a mystical thing but somewhat firstteam i feel like why we are mentioning them and then to go back to what i have read over again and then go back and see another familiar with these other names. That was very useful. To have these names spill forward and then to find out who those people were. So in the beginning to be part of the way a lot of migration of construction the population and natalie picking up the biography but also black new york so could you talk about the black communities . His parents were both enslaved in the same county i hadnt come across any evidence they knew one another they are but it seems that the friedman bank records one from 1872 and was a runaway and after the war had family and was a hotelel later in norwalk virginia norfolk connecticut . Are the other way around . [laughter] he was in virginia. And then the next year in new york but living at a very posh address of what today is greenwich village. One of those areas on thompson street that was the subject of jacobs investigations. And one of the troubled areas so it was clear it was an interesting dichotomy thats where he landed but with this really posh address on 29th street and broadway. And then still appears to get established. Of those that like themselves have come up from the south to the big city to new i york and to say this was important to get an idea but as a native new yorker born on 50th street which is now part of chelsea but the tenderloin and it was known for clubs and the red light district and everything that comes with that mimic anything above 14th street was uptown. Pretty much it references uptown above 14th street to give you an idea of how the city was moving up words. Not that they didnt live farther away but the centers and the businesses in commercial enterprises you could feel them migrating and and from becoming ensconced. It was amorphous communities that like Hells Kitchen would have been part of the northern end of it and 1h street were James Williams was born at the southern end toward the Railroad Tracks on the east. It dissolved to come i. C. E. Around the broadway area which is commercial. One that is interesting working on 28th street is in the posh area oft broadway that only a couple of blocks away. And its walkable within ten minutes but there is a contract. I feel the work that chief williams was doing graham tim from grand seat central station. Line of the principal of the gilded age of new york its not really clear when it began but certainly the turn of the last century when williams is working and is known for hiring especially africanamericans because jobs are hard to get. Looks like somebody and was a sports manager but was an artist at what he did. And everybody liked him. But this is one of the things the Africanamerican Community in new york always considered him a friend. He would cater events not o only to the elite but when harlem started to take hold he would cater those events as well and decorate them with flowers so he was known for fair play and getting a square deal and a lot of people like williams and even langston hughes. And this is in the later years and it wasnt connected. [laughter] but really one of the few people who is very influential. A family guy who had a lot of pull and probably he who made introductions to the admin of Grand Central to get williams this job which he integrated forces to become manhattans first black fireman and the most important letter and those were written by the likes of Teddy Roosevelt as well but it with that recommendation. So James William at a key time there is this other incredible thing where he owns property way uptown on 42nd street across broadway and Seventh Avenue a little Triangle Hotel their downtown and he sold that property to the new york times. And it became time square. One of the deals is that his name has to appear on the building in the lease and it remains there for many years. That williams was witness to all of that and was in charge of Madison Square garden was in a different location for when prince henry prussia it was one of the biggest events for tour of several american cities. At his house, tl palace. At his house, tl he was a boy then and had never gotten over it, so he became a this big advocate for black culture and wanted to know more. He thoroughly was in charge of the decorations, but also he was about fair play, so he had his staff do it which meant that he put one of the coworkers in charge and the prince was so impressed that he asked him to come back to decorate the state room anstateroom and the palaced them back with a diamond watch and everything. These kind of things really affected James Williams coming of age. It was like an apprenticeship where you learn what people want and seeing what people are ordering, what occasions they te getting flowers for her and what kind of flowers. Flowers. These are informing him he has become so when he gets to the position at Grand Central, hes just toting bags but also something of a diplomat. You get that feeling. It commanded a presence no matter who he was in conversation with were working with. One of the resources we have here at the Schaumburg Center we also have digital exhibitions. We have one of migrations in new neighborhoods of 66 and going to read a portion of that. As important as it was, it was dwarfed by the europeans mostly from ireland, germany and italy. In new york, irish and italian immigrants as domestics and skilled physicians which we see between 1890 and 1910 during the largest increase in the black population at that particular time, so 24 , the next with 66 or the next iteration so thats what im talking about in terms of the increase in the population at that time. It goes on to say it became more black new yorkers found themselves in the city that continue to bargain segregated them in the poor neighborhoods and entries into many public spaces. The. In the telling of the story we see the unveiling of the Grand Central station but we also are learning more about jim crow. How do these moments influence the position that he eventually takes . While they were relegated to these positions, towards the end they were starting to lose a lot of t these positions because a part of the old american story now that there are others coming in who wer are unrooted and beadwork, what are comfortable hiring them. One of the things this is the riot in 19 which were so terrific on a number of levels but one it wasnt just that they were battered by the Police Officers and this came into the court to and catalyzed the communities and blackandwhite as well in protest and the news. Across the country. Peopleas were so ashamed and disgusted by this moment that its sort of a dawning of the reformers to start offering jobs, so now these were so bottom of the rung jobs but one of the main proponents of the loudest voices of protest against the actions of the police and the Justice System that they thought were whitewashing what had happened das that reverend w. H. Brooks. One of the things that