Finding a job with the railroad
When Strickland was discharged from the navy, he found it difficult to get a new job. Eventually, his brother Paul who worked on the railroad provided him with the connections he needed to become a substitute worker who was called when a full-time employee was absent. From there, he worked his way into a full-time permanent position.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Ralph Waldo Strickland, April 18, 1980. Interview H-0180. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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I got paid off at Brooklyn Navy Yard December 26, 1926. I went back to
Warm Springs. My people still in Warm Springs. Stayed around there two
or three months, couldn't find no work, no job. I told mama,
I said, "I believe I'll make the Navy a
career." I was second class petty officer. I'd just
make the Navy a career and ship over. I bought me a ticket from Warm
Springs to Portsmouth, Virginia, and ship over in the Navy. I had a
brother over here in Hamlet that I hadn't seen in four years,
brother Paul. The only train coming this away to Portsmouth out of
Atlanta, I begin to think. I'm going right through Hamlet on
Seaboard Railroad, and I hadn't seen him in four years. I
asked the conductor, I says, "Conductor, I got a brother in
Hamlet, how about me stopping off here two or three days? Can I use my
ticket?" He said, "Yeah." He just punched my
ticket, give it back to me. Said, "Yeah, you go ahead and see
your brother." In fact, he knew brother Paul. He was on the
railroad at that time.
- LU ANN JONES:
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Paul was? What was he doing?
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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He was a brakeman and a conductor on the railroad. He was already working
for Seaboard. I stopped there two or three days. My brother
says, "Ralph, you don't want to go
right now. Stay out." Mr. C. H. Sauls was superintendent, and
the division used to be in Hamlet, North Carolina. North Carolina
Division was in Hamlet. C. H. Sauls, he was retired assistant
vice-president. Anyway, he was superintendent, and he said,
"I'll take you down to Mr. Sauls office, and see if
he won't give you a job." Sure enough, the next day
or so, he took me down there, and he took me up there in Mr. Sauls
office and introduced me to him. I asked him for a job firing. I wanted
a job firing. I was firing man in the Navy, and I had experience with
boilers. Mr. Sauls looked at me and he looked at Paul. He knew Paul,
good friend of Paul. He said, "Boy, I can't give you
no job firing. I've got sixty firemen on this division cut
off now." He sort of thought and looked at Paul and looked at
me, said, "I'll tell you what I'm going
to do, I'm going to send you over here to
Charlotte." Old man T. R. Campbell was general yard master over
here. Said, "I'm going to send you on over there to
him, and if he can use you, he can put you on over there as a job
switchman. That's the only thing I can offer you is to get
you a job switchman. If he can use you, it'll be all right
with for you to go to work." That was March 1, 1927. I caught
twenty-one, that's the train from Hamlet to Royalton. Turn
around job, made turn around trip everyday. I got off the train right
down here, March 1, 1921 about 11:30 a.m.
- LU ANN JONES:
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Right down here where?
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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Right down here on Tryon Street, that old passenger station on Tryon
Street, 1100 block of North Tryon Street, Seaboard Passenger Station. I
got off that train there. I knew who I was looking for, and I asked my
mama, "Where is Mr. Tom Campbell, general yard
master?" Someone pointed him out to me, said, "There
he is." I went up there and introduced myself to him and told
him that Mr. C. H. Sauls had sent me over here
from Hamlet and would appreciate it if he could use me and put me to
work. Old man Tom, he looked around, says, "I ain't
got nothing for you right now, but Mr. Sauls sent you over
here—he's superintendent—he sent you
over there, we going to have a fertilizer opening up two or three more
weeks." That was the first day of March. That was when the
Royster and McCade fertilizer and all these fertilizer
plants—they's hauling all that fertilizer by rail
back them days. Says, "I might be able to use you a few days a
while. I want you to get out here and learn the yard, learn the work,
learn how to give a signal, and learn how to do this work, and
I'll be able to put you on, maybe." So I did, I got
out there and started to learn this yard, following them yard crews
around, following them conductors around, and learning how to give a
signal. Make a coupling, and air hose and all that kind of stuff.
- LU ANN JONES:
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Did they just teach you by…
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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That's right. They talked to me, showed me and talked to me. I
picked up a whole lot of it, just from observing them, following them
around from time to time.
- LU ANN JONES:
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Were you getting paid then?
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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No ma'am. While I was learning, I had to learn the yard and
learn the work. I stayed over here about ten days, then I went back to
Hamlet and took my train rule examination. Then after I got my train
rule examination, then I come back over here and marked up on the extra
board. The first day I made after I marked up, then that's
when I got paid.
- LU ANN JONES:
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What does that mean, "marked up?"
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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Marked up on the extra board.
- LU ANN JONES:
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What does that mean?
- RALPH W. STRICKLAND:
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The extra board, there's about five or six men.
It's a seniority question. All the seniority men that stood
for regular jobs, they wanted regular jobs. They
maintained about five men on that extra board to relieve in case a man
gets sick. They'd relieve him; they work them first in and
first out on the extra board. Course, I didn't have no
seniority as one of the lowest man on the totem pole, so I had to work
on that extra board for a long time until I got enough seniority to
where I stood for regular jobs.