Document Bank of Virginia
Search using this query type:

Search only these record types:


Advanced Search (Items only)

Seaboard Air Line Railway, Enamel Lapel Pin, n.d.

CONTENT WARNING

Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation. 

Context

The Seaboard Air Line (SAL) Railway was chartered from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it was merged with another railroad line, Atlantic Coast Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The SAL Railway originated from several railroad lines that dated from the 1830’s, with the earliest known SAL route running from Norlina, North Carolina to Portsmouth, Virginia. Playing a crucial roll in American commerce, SAL and other railway lines transported goods such as timber, minerals, and agricultural products to areas across the southeast. The company was based in Norfolk until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond. The railway published a newspaper headquartered in Portsmouth called the S.A.L. Magundi.

SAL and several other railroads were consolidated into a system with twenty-six hundred miles of track from Virginia to Florida. The main line ran from Richmond via Raleigh, North Carolina to Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, and ended in Jacksonville, Florida. These lines spurred the development of the tourism industry in the southeastern U.S., especially Florida as passengers could board other railways taking them to tourist destinations like Tampa, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, and Miami.

Citation: Whitehead and Hoag. Seaboard Air Line Railway, Enamel Lapel Pin, n.d., Ephemera Collection, Manuscripts & Special Collections, Library of Virginia

Standards

History: VS.1, VS.9, VUS.1, VUS.8, CE.12, CE.13
Art: 4.1, 5.1

Suggested Questions

Preview Activity

Look at It: What might be the importance of the lapel pin? Who might have worn it? Why would a railway line create such an item?

Post Activities

Think About It: SAL and other railway lines are credited with being of importance to the rebuilding of the southeastern United States in the late-1800’s. Why is this the case? What might have happened if the railway lines did not merge? 

Artistic Exploration: Design a poster, incorporating this lapel pin design, promoting the SAL route.