The Freedom Train Brings the Spirit of 1776 to Wheeling
“Here comes the Freedom Train You better hurry down Just like a Paul Revere It’s comin’ into your hometown Inside the freedom train You’ll find a precious freight Those words of liberty The documents that made us great…”
–fromThe Freedom Train(1948) by Irving Berlin
Freedom Train postcard, OCPL Archives.
On September 14, 1948, a glossy white, seven-car train with bold, red, white and blue striping and a golden eagle on its Alco PA-1 diesel-electric locomotive, pulled into Wheeling’s Pennsylvania Railroad depot at the Wharf, just above what is now Heritage Port, for a twelve hour visit. On board the were “127 of the nation’s most priceless historical documents,” including Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence with corrections, Washington’s copy of the original printed draft of the Constitution, a manuscript copy of the Gettysburg Address held by Abraham Lincoln, and Francis Scott Key’s handwritten copy of The Star Spangled Banner, among many others.
“WHOOWOOOOOOOOO…WHOWOO…WHOWOO…WHOWOO! A hoot whistle cuts through the hazy shimmering heat of a steamy Ohio River Valley mid-July morning in Wheeling, West Virginia. Hey! Listen. A Humper’s just whistled out the th’ flag. He’s gonna take water at Bridgeport. Let’s go get ’em! (a ‘Humper’ is local slang for a B&O lake coal train working ‘over the hump’ from Wheeling to Holloway, Ohio). You grab camera and film and take off running. Down 14th Street, up Eoff Street, cut thru the Yellow Cab’s back lot, up Chapline Street past the post office, over 10th Street and across Market, attacking auto and pedestrian traffic like a Kamikaze trainee.” -J.J. Young
Sometimes things in life are just a matter of serendipity. That happened recently when a friend called who was going to tour the Stifel-Kossuth property at 807 Main Street. He asked if I would like to come along.
– article by Jon-Erik Gilot, Director of Archives at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Since coming to the Diocese in 2012, I’ve been fascinated by the many hundreds of photographs comprising the Eddie Martin Collection. Recently highlighted in the Winter 2014 issue of Goldensealmagazine, Martin’s photos appear to at long last be reaching a wider audience. Read More
