The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad

Starting in the 1940s, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad (CB&Q) began depositing parts of its company archive in the Newberry Library’s collection. Today, the CB&Q collection comprises nearly 5,000 cubic feet of materials, encompassing much of the company’s nineteenth and early twentieth century operations.

Hidden away in the archive, were thousands of photographic negatives taken for a project that the Newberry Library’s president, Stanely Pargelis headed up in the late 1940s. The CB&Q hired Pargelis along with Lloyd Lewis and two photographers–Esther Bubley and Russell Lee to document “daily life” in the places that were shaped–and in some cases, created–by the railroad. The project culminated in a book titled, Granger Country: A Pictorial Social History of the Burlington Railroad (Newberry Library, H 668 .1619).

Two years ago, the Newberry digitized some of these images to make them accessible to people who are interested in the social and cultural history of the 1940s, the Midwest, and railroad. The exhibit allows users to search for photos by keyword and examine each image in very close detail.

One of my favorite images from this collection (and there are many, many of these) includes this image (featured in the video) of a woman riding in one of the “vista-dome” cars that were a prominent feature of the Zephyr trains.

Morning Zephyr to Minneapolis. 5. Scenes along route

Between now and October 16, 2010, you can learn more about the CB&Q and the Newberry’s collection by visiting our Spotlight Exhibit on the first floor. In the meantime, be sure to watch the most recent Newberry Minute video in which one of the exhibit’s curators, Ginger Frere, talks about the Granger Country project and the CB&Q digital exhibit.