Direct Examination of Lola Houck
1888
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This is the testimony of Lola Houck (please note that it includes racist language) from the case Leon L. Houck and Lola Houck v. The Southern Pacific Company.
In this court case, plaintiffs Lola and Leon Houck sought monetary damages (payment) from the railroad company after Mrs. Houck was denied a seat in the first class car.
On September 21, 1886, Lola Houck had received word that her nine-month-old child was deathly ill. The child was at the home of Houck's parents in Galveston, Texas, at the time, so she bought a train ticket on the Southern Pacific Railway to get to her child as soon as possible.
Houck had made this trip plenty of times before; but this time it was different. As Houck approached the train, a young shoeshine informed Charles Oaks, the brakeman of the train, that Houck was African-American. Houck was of a lighter complexion, which had previously given her easier access to better accommodations on the railroad.
Given this news and the fact that Houck was a woman unaccompanied by her husband, she was vulnerable to mistreatment. Upon boarding the train, she quickly became the victim of abuse by the brakeman working for the railroad. The Jim Crow car was—in Mrs. Houck’s words, "not a fit place for a woman to go in"—being filled with smoke and rough characters both white and black, so she was compelled to ride between the cars in a rainstorm. After enduring a miserable journey in which she was publicly humiliated, she and her husband sued Southern Pacific Railway.
In a rare victory, the judge awarded Mrs. Houck $2,500 in damages and denied the railroad company’s motion for a retrial.
In this court case, plaintiffs Lola and Leon Houck sought monetary damages (payment) from the railroad company after Mrs. Houck was denied a seat in the first class car.
On September 21, 1886, Lola Houck had received word that her nine-month-old child was deathly ill. The child was at the home of Houck's parents in Galveston, Texas, at the time, so she bought a train ticket on the Southern Pacific Railway to get to her child as soon as possible.
Houck had made this trip plenty of times before; but this time it was different. As Houck approached the train, a young shoeshine informed Charles Oaks, the brakeman of the train, that Houck was African-American. Houck was of a lighter complexion, which had previously given her easier access to better accommodations on the railroad.
Given this news and the fact that Houck was a woman unaccompanied by her husband, she was vulnerable to mistreatment. Upon boarding the train, she quickly became the victim of abuse by the brakeman working for the railroad. The Jim Crow car was—in Mrs. Houck’s words, "not a fit place for a woman to go in"—being filled with smoke and rough characters both white and black, so she was compelled to ride between the cars in a rainstorm. After enduring a miserable journey in which she was publicly humiliated, she and her husband sued Southern Pacific Railway.
In a rare victory, the judge awarded Mrs. Houck $2,500 in damages and denied the railroad company’s motion for a retrial.
This primary source comes from the Records of District Courts of the United States.
Full Citation: Direct Examination of Lola Houck; 1888; 1439: Leon L. Houck and Lola Houck v. The Southern Pacific Company; Law Case Files, 1867 - 1938; Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21; National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/lola-houck, March 29, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.