Olivia Morris-Bush: "Crossways: the Intersection Between Racialized Railroads and Racial Equity in the Workplace"
I really enjoy how the Learning Lab allows me to examine archival material with the assistance of my peers. Overall, the community within our cohort give me various perspectives about my research that is extremely helpful!
-Olivia Morris-Bush
Olivia Morris-Bush is a Junior majoring in Political Science with a minor in Geography. She is active in student government at UK.
Olivia's research project in the Learning Lab analyzed letters from Thomas Redd (1866-1944), an African-American brakeman from Louisville, Kentucky, who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad Company in the early 20th century. Redd was an outspoken leader of the union for Black brakemen during a time of intense racism in the workplace without federal laws offering protections against racial discrimination.
For her research, Olivia used letters within the Thomas Redd papers, 1891-1941 at the UK Special Collections Research Center and also the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Company Selected Personnel Files, 1919-1934 from Cornell University Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. Olivia examined and coded each letter so she could understand and convey the key issues faced by Black workers on the railroad at that time. Her research uncovered widespread racial discrimination, lack of basic resources for Black workers, pay disparities, promotion inequities, and a managment team reluctant to make significant changes.
Throughout her research, Olivia often lamented that she wished Redd had lived to see societal change brought about by the Civil Rights Act and experienced a more just workpace. While he may have not lived to see the change he helped create, he was an active participant in making it happen. Her research shines a light on someone who fought for justice.
Watch Olivia's 5 minute video discussing her research here.
Poster presented at the National Conference of Undergraduate Research, 13 April 2021:
Research abstract:
Crossways: The Intersection Between Racialized Railroads and Racial Equity in the Workplace
Despite government policies and laws that condemn racial discrimination in the workplace, this does not mean that discussions and ideas for improving racial equity in the workplace cease to exist. When discrimination in the workplace occurs, individuals and unions can represent marginalized employees' interests. The letters from Thomas Redd (1891-1941), an African American railroad worker who was involved in the Colored Brakeman of the Kentucky Division of the Road union and the co-founder of the Association of Colored Railway Trainmen and Locomotive Firemen (ACRT) brings awareness to how African Americans had to advocate through unions to have their grievances and concerns heard by the Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) leadership.
The intent of this project is to explore how the racialized landscape of the IC can be uncovered by analyzing the racialized language of Thomas Redd's letters from the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center and Cornell University's Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives. By conducting a qualitative analysis of the racialized language used by Redd to describe how African American Illinois Central employees endured racial discrimination will reveal the racial dynamics of the IC workplace environment. Thomas Redd used his persuasive writing skills and leadership position in the Colored Brakeman of the Kentucky Division of the Road as a means of advocacy that brought visibility to African Americans IC employees that did not have the privilege to challenge acts of racial discrimination. After a qualitative analysis of Redd's letters' racialized language, there will be a need to compare Redd's recommendations for a racially equitable work environment to current employment policies related to racial discrimination and anti-racism.
