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Protest against Philadelphia Transportation Company

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@ Temple University

Mosley, John W

Description

A Philadelphia Transit Company (it would eventually become SEPTA) protest in support of African American trolley drivers. After the PTC chose eight Black men to drive trolleys in 1944, White transit workers went on strike, stopping the production of weapons and war material and leaving millions of riders stranded. The crisis ended after President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent in 5,000 armed troops to force the strikers back to work, the first time since Reconstruction that the federal government intervened to protect the rights of Black workers.

Record Contributed By

Temple University

Record Harvested From

PA Digital