Cook, George LaGrange

Description

1 contact sheet; 14 x 8.5; Nine African-American firemen in uniform riding on a horse-drawn tillered aerial ladder (hook & ladder) truck stationed in front of the "Truck House," on John Street, east of King Street. Up until the 1970s both of Charleston's downtown ladder companies were manned solely by African-American firefighters. The Charleston Fire Department (CFD) had horses well into the 1930s with the last CFD horses being retired from the "Truck House" around 1939. Both of CFD's ladder companies were manned by all African-American crews until the department was integrated in the 1970s. These two companies moved to the Cuming Street Station in 1943, built specifically to be used by the African American firefighters.

Record Contributed By

University of South Carolina. South Caroliniana Library

Record Harvested From

South Carolina Digital Library