Page 160
“Once they got off the train…”
The description of Anarcha’s duties while acting as nurse to Nathan Harris during the trip north is largely imagined. But it is in keeping with the duties of enslaved persons who worked in the homes of white people, as described in many WPA slave narratives.
“On May 6, 1853…”
The previous Friday was May 6.
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
“…more than two hundred people…”
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
“…the smoking car…”
The smoking car was toward the front of the train.
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
“…stopped at Twenty-seventh street…”
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
“…a meeting of doctors…”
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
Transactions of American Medical Association, Vol. 7, 1854, p. 604. The full text of the AMA’s annual reports can be downloaded from their website.
“There was a white bishop…”
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 9, 1853.
“…forty miles per hour…”
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 10, 1853.
“…the system of flags and balls…”
The Times reprinted the full text of the inquests that were held into the accident—much was made of the system of balls and signals. No clear conclusion was drawn in the days immediately after the event, and I have attempted to be true to what was believed at the time.
The New York Times (New York City, NY), May 10, 1853; May 9, 1853.
