Existing comment:
Streetcar Eviction
"Against the Rules"
On February 1, 1864, Dr. Alexander T. Augusta, an African-American doctor in the Union Army, attempted to board a Washington DC street car. The conductor ejected Augusta because, he said, "it was against the rules for colored persons to ride inside." In this letter to CA Dana, Assistant Secretary of War, Augusta describes the "outrage committed upon me by the Conductor of Car No. 32, of the City Railway Co." |