Roundhouse Crosstalk

In this podcast Park Interpretive Specialist Audrey Lokteff sits down with Grammy Award Winning Sound Archivist and Curator Jeff Place to discuss the connections between the railroad and music. This episode is dedicated to Art Cort, a docent at the California state railroad museum for 29 years.  Art passed away on August 17th, 2020.  He will be best remembered as a museum host, welcoming thousands of guests with warm and happy tunes on his harmonica. He was a long-time participant of the Amtrak Interpretive Program where museum docents narrated the history of the Transcontinental Railroad on board the California Zephyr between Sacramento and Reno.  Art completed over 9,000 hours as a docent which included 128 trips on Amtrak. The railroad museum sends their condolences to his family and the innumerable others in the community that were positively affected by his dedication, adventurous spirit, kindness, and love of the railroad. We will deeply miss our friend and colleague.

If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more railroad songs selected by Jeff Place you can use this link to view his Anthology of Classic Railroad Songs: https://libcat.bucknell.edu/title/classic-railroad-songs/oclc/1144567715?referer=di&ht=edition.

When you go to a Museum do you see your story reflected in the exhibits and collections? Museums are places that collect and share American Culture, History, and Identity. And like American Culture, History, and Identity, Museums are steeped in echoes of the past. Who is represented in museum collections? Whose stories do we tell? How are we going to move into a shared future? Join Museum Director, Ty Smith, Program & Exhibit Designer, Kim Whitfield, and Museum Curator, Melanie Tran as we tackle these questions with a conversation about American Culture, representation, and shared authority in Museums. There is room for all our stories.

Other Civic season activities: https://www.thecivicseason.com/getstarted/

Share your story: https://www.californiarailroad.museum/my-story

This collaborative program between the California State Railroad Museum and Angel Island State Park travels through California history by examining how Chinese immigration for the Gold Rush and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad led to discriminatory policies in California, which are visible at the Angel Island Immigration Station. This AAPI heritage month, we reflect on California as a gateway to opportunity-- open to some and closed to others.

Full program: https://youtu.be/31oqyTwa-Uw

Book recommendations:

Ghosts of Gold Mountain: https://www.amazon.com/Ghosts-Gold-Mountain-Transcontinental-Railroad/dp/1328618579

Dragon's Gate: https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Gate-Golden-Mountain-Chronicles/dp/0064404897/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=dragon%27s+gate&qid=1623176678&s=books&sr=1-1

CSRM Teacher’s guide: https://www.californiarailroad.museum/assets/downloads/2020-Teachers-Guide-Chinese-Railroad-Workers.pdf

Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940: https://www.amazon.com/Island-History-Immigrants-1910-1940-Endowment/dp/029599407X

May 2021 marks 40 years of CSRM! Join us this week for a conversation with our Museum Director and Coordinator of Exhibit & Interpretive Programs as they talk about the Railroad Museum’s mission and philosophy.

Here at the railroad museum, our lives are made of railroad stories. If you would like to share your own railroad story, we would love to hear it! Visit: https://www.californiarailroad.museum/my-story/

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month #AAPImonth and we honor their legacy and contribution to American Culture and the railroad.

This week on Roundhouse Crosstalk Podcast in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Park Interpreter II, Kim Whitfield, talks with Chinese Railroad Worker descendant, film producers, and friends of the Museum, Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam about their film documentaries, “Finding Cleveland,” and “Far East Deep South,” and their family history and the history of Chinese immigrants living in the American South during 1800s to mid 1900s.

Their new film documentary, Far East Deep South will be making its TV Broadcast debut on “America ReFramed” on World Channel (PBS) on May 4th. It will also stream on PBS.org the rest of May. You can watch it here:  http://bit.ly/ARF_FarEDeepS

You can also follow them on Instagram: @fareastdeepsouth @larissalammusic @onlywonmc and Twitter: @fareastdeepso @larissalam @onlywon

This podcast will focus on Rosina Tucker, a union organizer and a powerful voice in the Civil Rights Movement. She is best known for her work with the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters--the first African American trade union. Rosina fought to improve working conditions for Pullman Porters. Her work lives on here at the California State Railroad Museum in our Crossing Lines exhibit, which focuses on the many contributions of women on the railroad. Today Audrey Lokteff meets with one of the creators of the Crossing Lines exhibit, Debbie Hollingsworth to learn more about Rosina Tucker.

You can find more information of Rosina Tucker and other women railroaders at: https://www.californiarailroad.museum/crossing-lines

This episode of Roundhouse Crosstalk will take an intimate look at the lives of the Black Americans who worked on the railroad. You will hear oral history interviews from the Oregon State Universities African American Railroad Porters Oral History Collection, these interviews provide insight into railroad jobs such as, Red Caps, Porters, Waiters, and Cooks. All of these interviews were recorded in the 1980s by Michael Grice, and are now available online.

Black Americans held many jobs on the railroad, and these oral stories showcase the diversity of job placement. These interviews will give you a firsthand look at the difficulties faced by the  black workers, their feelings towards the railroad, and the collective memory of shared community among railroad workers.

Today, Jason Rankins our Guide II Supervisor at the California State Railroad Museum, will be speaking with Natalia Fernandez the Interim Director of the Special Collections and Archives Research Center at Oregon State University. Natalia Fernandez is also the curator of the Oregon Multicultural Archives which documents the oral stories and experiences of porters on the railroad during the first half of the 20th century.  If you are interested in listening to the oral history collection you can find it on the Oregon State University Library webpage or access the collection using link provided here: http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/oh29/interviews.html

Thank you everyone for listening to this week's episode of Roundhouse Crosstalk! If you would like to share your story please visit https://www.californiarailroad.museum/my-story.

Thank you everyone for listening to this week's episode of Roundhouse Crosstalk! If you would like to share your story please visit https://www.californiarailroad.museum/my-story.