Stereoviews of the Railroad Strike of 1877, July 21-22, 1877
- Repository
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Title
- Stereoviews of the Railroad Strike of 1877
- Creator
- Albee, S. V.
- Creator
- Riddle, J.R.
- Collection Number
- AIS.2019.05
- Extent
- 43 photographs 43 Stereoviews.
- Date
- July 21-22, 1877
- Abstract
- Forty-three stereoviews depicting the aftermath of the Railroad Strike of 1877, also known as The Railroad War, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forty-two of these views were taken by Pittsburgh photographer, S. V. Albee and one view was taken by J. R. Riddle. What is a stereoview? Stereoviews, also known as stereographs or stereoscopic cards, are an early form of 3D photography. The pictures are taken with a stereoscopic camera, which has two lenses, simulating the views received by the left and right eye. Two nearly identical pictures are then developed and printed, and are mounted next to each other, usually on a piece of card stock. When looked at through a stereoscope, the image can then be seen in 3D. Stereoscopes were a 19th century amusement devise. ( source: https://sgarwood.com/node/54 )
- Language
- English
- Publisher
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Address
- University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Acqusition Information
Purchase from Jeffrey Kraus Antique Photographic Images on May 2019.
Arrangement
Arranged in numberical order as described on the verso of each photograph by the photographer at time of publication.
Copyright
No copyright restrictions.
Preferred Citation
Stereoviews of the Railroad Strike of 1877, AIS. 2019.05, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Miriam Meislik in May 2019.
History
The Pittsburgh Railroad Strike of 1877 occurred from July 19-30th, 1877, as part of the national Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia in reaction to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's (B&O) reduction of wages for the third time in a year. The national strike lasted for 69 days, until it was squelched by unofficial militias, the National Guard, and federal troops.
Pittsburgh experienced a violent and destructive response to the strike, largely in protest of the Pennsylvania Railroad's (PRR) second ten percent wage cut in four years. The PRR also laid off nearly half of its workforce as a result of running trains that were twice as long, known in the industry as a "double header." This required two locomotives to pull 34-36 cars which resulted in a need for fewer crew members for each trip. In addition to layoffs, this decision led to longer routes and longer workdays. Instead of travelling 48 miles for a day's work, workers would often travel up to 100 miles.
Influenced by the onset of the national strike action and long-standing grievances over wages and layoffs, workers in Pittsburgh entered the conflict when a flagman refused to work a double header. Railroad workers waited until division superintendent Robert Pitcairn left the city and then refused to run the next scheduled train from the 28th Street station in the Strip District. Crowds then gathered in the train yard on July 19th, but Pittsburgh Mayor William C. McCarthy refused to send men to disperse them. The local militia was called into service on July 20th, but their sympathies were with the rail workers and they proved ineffective. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to take freight trains out before striking workers made their way to the East Liberty Station where they were joined by supporting yardmen, thus preventing all eastbound and westbound freight trains from leaving. According to McCabe's The History of the Great Riots, ". . . about 1400 men had gathered in the two yards of the Pennsylvania Company and 1500 cars were standing on the sidings, 200 of which contained perishable goods." The two yards were East Liberty and Brinton.
The first division of the National Guard in Philadelphia was also mobilized, arriving at Pittsburgh's Union Station via the PRR on July 21st. The growing crowd at the station eventually clashed with the guardsmen, who opened fire and killed several workers. After dispersing, the crowd of workers reassembled at the 28th Street crossing, while the National Guard entered the lower roundhouse. Civilians engaged in shooting throughout the night, and by the early hours of July 22nd, the crowd's attempt to obtain a field gun from the Allegheny Arsenal in Lawrenceville was met with gunfire from soldiers, after which the roof of the roundhouse was set ablaze. As the fire forced troops out of the roundhouse, they were forced to march up Penn Avenue toward Lawrenceville with the intention of reaching Sharpsburg. Four soldiers were killed in the ensuing gunfire as they marched. According to a Pittsburgh Dispatch article dated July 25, 1877, rail lines were routed to use other stations as a result. The Pittsburgh Virginia & Charleston and the Fort Wayne Railroad, for instance, were routed to the Try Street Depot in Downtown Pittsburgh and the Federal Street Depot in Allegheny City, respectively. The Allegheny Valley Railroad appeared to run normally, stopping at the station at 11th and Pike in what is now the Strip District instead of continuing to the former Union Depot. Reinforcement troops arrived on July 28, allowing peace to be restored and trains to resume.
The strike resulted in the deaths of 24 men: twenty civilians and 4 National Guardsmen. Newspaper accounts of the time frequently inflated the number and the names printed often changed. Additionally, The Pittsburgh Dispatch cited 250 arrests for charges like arson and larceny, which resulted in the jailing of 193 individuals. Of those jailed, 45 were reportedly sent to the workhouse.
The resulting loss of property was estimated at about $5 million in damages, with some 39 buildings, 104 locomotives, 46 - 66 passenger cars, and 1,200 - 1,383 freight cars destroyed.
The aftermath of the conflict in Pittsburgh was captured in a set of 42 stereoviews (a 19th century parlor amusement that allowed people to see scenes in a three-dimensional view) by Seth Voss Albee, more widely known as S. V. Albee (1838-1930). Albee was born in Thomaston, Maine, and began his photographic career in 1860 in nearby Rockport, where he specialized in industrial and mechanical photography, as well as the occasional landscape and architectural views. Arriving in Pittsburgh in 1867, Albee opened several studio locations including 10 1/2 Sixth Street in partnership with another photographer as Albee and Cole in 1875. At the time of the strike, his address was listed as Short and Fifth Avenue, though these two streets do not intersect. Other studio locations included 99 Fifth Avenue and 784 Fifth Avenue which is the address noted on the stereoviews.
A single stereoview by J. R. Riddle is present in the collection. Little biographical information has been discovered on this photographer, though the reverse of the card indicates the that the "J. R. Riddle and Company" was located in Fairview, Baldwin P. O., Butler County, Pennsylvania with "Oil Scenery Specilty[sic]." Riddle appears to have also produced stereoviews of the western United States, including Kansas, Colorado, and Arizona.
Scope and Contents
Forty-three stereoviews depicting the aftermath and scale of destruction of the Railroad Strike of 1877, also known as The Railroad War, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Forty-two of these views were taken by Pittsburgh photographer, S. V. Albee and one view was taken by J. R. Riddle. Scenes include the decimated roundhouse building as well as various street scenes depicting structures and equipment reduced to ruins.
Riddle's stereoview was originally transposed during printing. A previous owner made the correction and the view has been repositioned and taped together to view correctly.
Related Materials Note
John M. Morris Scrapbook, AIS.1976.20, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System (contains clippings and photographs related to Morris' profession in the railroad and steel industry. The scrapbook begins with clippings related to the 1877 Railroad Strike).
Pittsburgh Prints from the Collection of Wesley Pickard, ca. 1843-1982, AIS.2006.03, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
H.K. Porter Co. Records, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1877-1968, AIS.1973.15, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Subjects
- Strip District (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Stereographs
- Railroad Strike, U.S., 1877
- Strikes and lockouts -- Railroads -- Pennsylvania -- 19th century
- Vandalism -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh