This photo of a sleeping car porter was taken #OnThisDay 100 years ago. Railway porters were responsible not only for carrying luggage, but also for serving food, pressing clothes, babysitting children and drunk passengers, and keeping cars clean. They were expected to be on call throughout 72-hour shifts, with no sleeping berths of their own. From the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, the vast majority of railway porters in Canada were Black men. They were often highly educated, but forced into service positions because of racism in Canadian society. Unable to join white labour organizations, the porters organized their own union, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters, in 1917. This union and its descendant organizations would come to produce numerous Black Canadian leaders, including citizenship judge Stanley Grizzle, activist Harry Gairey, and Senator Calvin Ruck. Globe and Main Fonds 1266, item 4697. #OTD #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #RailwayHistory