Promotional photograph from the film Journey By Train: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Silver gelatin print from a series of original photographs taken during the production of the 1935 educational short film, "A Journey by Train", produced by the Text Film Corp., Hollywood, CA. This print depicts the exterior of a train yard. To the left is a train marked "1806" with a brakeman in full uniform standing on the steps of an entrance to the train holding on to a vertical metal bar attached to the side of the train. On the ground is a conductor with his left arm outstretched towards the train with his pointer finger and thump motioning to the train. In the background is a train yard worker walking along a set of empty tracks with powerlines and homes dotting the landscape. The front left corner contains an identification tag within the photograph that reads "A JOURNEY BY TRAIN copyright by TEXT FILM CORP. HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. 101-38".

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1935
• Created by: Text Film Corp., American
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: photographic gelatin and silver on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 x 9 5/8 in. (20.3 x 24.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Labor
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Pullman Porters
• Topic: Segregation
• Topic: Transportation
• Object number: 2012.46.75.16
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.