KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24, and one of its key exhibits is a Jim Crow-era segregated railroad car donated by Knoxville businessman Pete Claussen.
It is the largest object displayed in the museum, and is a rare physical reminder of an ugly time in American history, said Claussen, chairman of Knoxville-based Gulf & Ohio Railways.
“There are very few physical reminders of segregation now,” he said. “There is not that much stuff, but this was a piece of tangible evidence of segregation and how it worked.”
The 70-foot-long car looks a lot like a standard railroad passenger car except inside it is split into two, 22-seat sections. The size of the seats and the legroom is the same, but the white section of the car takes up about two-thirds of the car’s length.
The white section has men’s and women’s restrooms with lounge areas that include sofas. The men’s room also has a smoking area and spittoons. The black section has approximately 2-feet-by-3-feet restrooms – just toilets and sinks. Also, the section for white passengers has substantial luggage racks but the section for black passengers has none.