Washington who is author of tonights book , boss of the grips, the life of James H Williams and the red caps of Grand Central terminal. This is part of an ongoing series of programs posted in conjunction with our series the ballad of harlem. If youve not had a chance to look at the exhibition it will be up through the end of december. There are all these things inside the exhibition that i think you will hear about tonight and also it might feed your own historical knowledge about how the ballot for harlem examines several strands of black place making in the 20th century offering viewsof president s and institutions dedicated to education , politicalengagements , cultural affirmation and creativity. The exhibition as i was mentioning earlier highlights includes the brotherhood of sleeping car porters which was the first union of black workers particularly plowman porters and youll also find selections from ruby dee and aussie davises collection which we recentlyacquired. Also items from and petries archives and so much more. We have two more ballot for harlem conversations coming up you should save thedate. November 13 we really having a conversation about sculptor augustus savage with curator jeffrey and hayes nima sandy. That event is on november 13 at 6 30. The other event is taking place in december and its a conversation about making community. Are going to be talking about barbershops and how they are being forced in the black community and we are hoping that program in partnership with and presentation of the algerian playwrights who leaves a rich tapestry of unfiltered stories about fatherson relationships and black masculinity sent to an afro beat and score. Theres so much more happening here at the Schomburg Center so please pick up one of our brochures. It has a beautiful vintage photo of Toni Morrison on the cover. Visit our website at Schomburg Center. Org and register for all our events. This time take a moment to silence your cell phone introduced an ice author and also let me remind you wewill have a book signing following the conversation. The eric k washington is a new york citybased tindependent historian and author. Is the owner of i in a past which endeavors to reconnect with history of present landscapes through articles, talks and tours particularly on unsung areas of upper manhattan. Exhibition scripts have included the National Civil rights museum, new yorks library at city college. His interpretive signage in west harlem heres part which runs the municipal art societys masterworks award celebrates the waterfront location of his birth, manhattanville. Whole heart of west harlem. As book is a biography, just published by liz wright. A division of ww nortons that grew out of the Research Fellowships at Columbia University in the scholars program, todays leon levi center for biography and a residency at the ms ah dorm are house. The new book is also the grips, the life of James H Williams and the red caps of Grand Central terminal and it reintroduces a once influential labor figure who lives between 1878 and 1948. And the secular harlem based black workforce he had americas most honest railroad station whose individuals often infused the lifeblood of the new Negro Movement and the story harlem renaissance of the 1920s we will first hear of it from eric and then he and i will sit down to have a conversation so please welcome Eric Washington for the podium. Novella. Thank you Schomburg Center for being the stewards of such a incredible collection that was invaluable to my research on this book. Im going to plunge right in and then we will talk. So on the evening of september 14, 1909, James H Williams summoned a throng of redcap stations attendance from Grand Central to reformers call on west 53rd street and despite the growing exodus harlem, this being todays Hells Kitchen was still a hub of black life. Williams had only recently been promoted to supervisor. This official category name attendance was rarely used by travelers. And even the men usually refer to themselves either conspicuous headwear. Red caps. But this Evening Assembly seemed more formal. Williams had summoned themto this church to organize the attendance Beneficial Association of Grand Central terminal. At Grand Centralitself , a number of occupational and Emotional Distress is an fueled this particular gathering of red caps work in and around multicultural Railroad Service while construction crews built up a new terminal complex around the old station. Er us dacian accident had claimed one of williams is meant months before , more personally is invalid baby daughter succumbed in hospital a week later area such emergencies may red caps acutely selfaware. They were uninsured, on salary and dependent on case. And this predicament prompted williams first major demonstration of his new influential position. Since our evening williams ocalled actions for his porters to organize their own Benevolent Association composed exclusively of Grand Central employees to aid members in case of thickness, injury or death. As officers of the new Mutual Aid Society the men chief williams as president and his samuel l jesse battle then studying for the spatient, thrusting into history as sergeantatarms. This 1909 incident take a picture to me of the amazing personal and grassroots base labor force James Williams built up for Grand Central station porters really was sitting from the collective bargaining based organization the brotherhood of sleeping car which founded in 1925 which in turn would inspire the only National Union movement iand 37. In the decade longspan of williams tenure , he glanced the impressivebreadth of the redcap impact on Grand Central and greater harlem. I think the best way to fully introduce williams is a start. By reading something from the introduction. New york city Grandcentral Terminal has been celebrated tour de force. Its captivated the traveling public for more than acentury. Open in february 12th, 1913 the Worlds Largest railroad station was built by the american firms reading it again and warren and whitmore showcases a host of such artistic talents as to six, thompson was altar of minerva polytechnic five crowns the buildings entry and Charles Basing whose painted feeling transports a mind wandering traveler to the blue heavens area many regarded it as the finest example of art in civic planning in new york. Once an architectural confection and a masterwork ofinnovative design and engineering. The sublime list of Grand Central terminal marble concourses, its cascading ramps and stairs and document shadows utilize its once essential operating model. The servitude of africanamerican workers. The servitude in this case was rooted in the american tradition of racial l explication. Northerners might have comfortably regarded their territory as a historically and let refuge from the harsh segregation practices of the staff or of a bygone era area however 20thcentury new york city evidence of its own jim crow policies , notably as Grand Central. Stations on system what a similar poor black men in red caps and recorders. Timesnumbered in the several hundred. The nature of a porters work, the noted writer eating white observed in the new yorker can to put them in a class of the beast of burden and indeed throughout themuslim concourse , the porters often backbreaking and demeaning labor was integral to the stations functional efficiency and to its glamorous ambulance. Was perhaps inevitable Grand Central red hot water system became a model for numerous railroad stations across the nation. Made categorically identifiable both by their apparel and bytheir complexion , black workforce at grandcentral and body americas color line. Laws, bylaws, amendments and social attitudes that close worst relax. In the United States, the color line was a deepseated contrivance that had festered for generations. It was a family of contradictions, at times one of its prohibitions only intuitively. Yet they were as probable as a growth a. It could be woven into the collective subconscious by social mores. For my deliberate area of lacks also found ways to circumvent and mitigate impasses created when whites erected the color line. They bent and reconfigured it into opportunities and positions of leverage. Was the case at Grand Central where the carlisle color line black workers the means proverbially seeking to makea utway out of no way. In the contract having flourished as one of the most iconic Service Occupations of f the last century. Grand central depot 95 with the was what sat had become exclusively black by 1905. The source of pride of the job was started by an old invariably associated with africanamerican men. Whereas whites shunned the workers to low in fat, black recognize it as a rare and provisions one option in an era of rigid racial barriers. At Grand CentralAmerican College students on the right as a means to pay their way through school. The man who prayed this opportunity for securing a foothold for his professional and social advancements was James Williams. Individual whose history at Grand Central terminal is the urban legend and mythology of the landmarkwheel today. More to formally enslaved africanamerican parents in 1838 , williams broke the color line at Grand Centrals likeredcap attendance in 1903. Shawn williams higher, the former public reminder that attendance deny Border Security but rather were on hand to assist station passengers again taking on a new definition. In 1909 williams served as the 40 quarter or of Grand Central terminal first and most notable africanamerican officer in maine in position until his death in 1948. In this capacity, the mia unique counter between black and ndwhite americans area is influential 45 year tenure a monumental railroad station not only a gateway to americas greatest city but just as much a gateway to the nations radius africanamerican neighborhood , harlem. For nearly half a century chief williams supervised a staff of men relegated by didnt break race to the lowest status of the nations workforce though their role was integral to the railroad system. Like the Railroad Rolling kings s or pullman porters who were also africanamerican the station bound red caps were crucial to this with what precision of the terminal and woven into the beguiling experience of early 20th centuryrailroad track. Williams life coincided with key period and the evolving social world of wafricanamericans living in an everchanging metropolis of new york city. His experiences offer a window on postcivil war america and the optimism of the reconstruction area. We follow williams as a race man. He was an unassuming agent of the early 20th century ideological cause of racial uplift which strove to quell white prejudice through black selfimprovement in education, business, labor, civic interest and the arts in the 1920s would fuel the new Negro Movements and harlem renaissance and we follow him two world wars. Trit was williams who ingeniously transformed and outwardly selfeffacing job into a coveted employment opportunity. The and karen, purpose permanent hormonelike as the New York Herald tribune would observe williams chiefdom offer ushered scores of promising but this silly strap young black college on their way to a motor board by working under a redcap at luggage porters. Many were great n, a prime example of the countless social Networks Platform for themselves when they were categorically barred as persona non grata from o langford releases and other white institutions. Credentials notwithstanding , these black greeks as well as the unschooled brothers of the race worked as fun salary laborers. They were ubiquitous throughout the terminals opulence concourses and he trunks and releases topped with sandals and telling the golf clubs and half boxes of bustling travelers they depended onfor six. While the story is obviously about race and labor w, it is also overwhelmingly about personal industry, resourcefulness and philanthropy. Over the course of his life america royals under some of the most seismic shifts in its history. At the new york central employee , the statesman, movie stars, silently, high clergy and other notables to and from trains marginal visibility. But he stood up conspicuously among africanamericans as the teeth. Who created a platform to employ black men to sustain black students and to showcase the race in the most admirable life. In this capacity as the loss of the greatest, grips the term applied to both baggage and handlers he was part of the Central Nervous system of the harlem renaissance. The story harlems cultural literary and artistic expression. It was also renaissance vibrant business and industry as race enterprises as well as spirited africanamerican labor Civic Movement in which chief williams was noted. Though they admired him as an forthright advocate, williams genuinely touched others to. The day after he died, the journalist earl brown had to go to chicago so headed down to Grand Central for a ticket on the Grand Central limited. 40 new york to chicago trade with the new york central advertised as the most famous train in the world anticipated the site of Keith Williams at the gate. On the main concourse, brown landed into some oldtime friends. Seasoned grits he knew from when he had redcap for a summer away from school. The majority didnt know about williams death and did not miss a step but brown and maybe some of the caps off a couple of strangers. Two old white passengers, friends of the chief said they had read about hisdeath in the morning paper. They were flying. So i wondered who was this black man was passing elicited grief among both friends and strangers and retracing the life of James Williams adopted a fascinating task, the unobtrusive nature of his job rather ephemeral not invisible. Though he was not a man of letters in the letters and observations of others and in the product of his time he takes a, fleshes out and the breeze. [applause]. So that was just the introduction and you all already know what you have to do at the end of this program area two points. One, ill be calling chief williams chief williams both as an automatic and also that was the title carry and also i wanted to take a moment to give a special shout thanks to Margaret Edwards who is the great granddaughter of williams who was here today. [applause] so thank you for joining us so very much. So part of your bio as well as what i found in the book that you have an amazing job of eliminating the existence of everyday people. Impact of their work on society. You say in intro that its a fascinating task so im curious how do you unearth and develop this rich composition as a man she williams in the absence of a formalarchive . In many ways, sometimes the easy part is finding their names binding and repeated in the articles or ncitations in somebody elses documentor whatever. Sometimes itsjust a name. On the list of people who are attending a gathering, particularly and im one of those people who like i just like the names i wonder who that person was see if theres somebody or anybody. And more often than not, when youre searching for someone or something, you dont necessarily find what youre looking for rightaway but you else that is g your attention. Though in that way i think there are different strategies and sort of nonstrategies for digging up and finding people who are just kind of everyday people. And the black press was about that. Possibly listing peoples names, telling the stories that maybe you should know. One of the things that was great was having access to a database and looking through a lot of, Mainstream Press also black press particularly when there was a gathering for anything. There seem to be this sort of a single thing where everybody just kind of was a necessarily participate but these were people who were there and at first you might feel like why are we mentioning them then its like maybe is like no one else is going to mention though i was grateful because i can go back to stories that ive read over again. Particularly for the huge, there were everybody. And go back and see now that ive become familiar with these other names. I wonder if they were at reading i wondered about. So yes, that was very useful area having a lot of these names to clinical core and some i have to find other ways. Of finding those people were really. So she williams parents were part of the wave of migration to new york during reconstruction. The population here in new york 12 19,000 80 possibly grits is not only a biography i think of chief williams also offers a map of black new york during