Boss of the Grips: The Life of James H. Williams and the Red Caps of Grand Central Terminal [Hardcover]

In a feat of remarkable research and timely reclamation, Eric K. Washington uncovers the nearly forgotten life of James H. Williams (18781948), the chief porter of Grand Central Terminals Red Capsa multitude of Harlem-based black men whom he organized into the essential labor force of Americas most august railroad station. Washington reveals that despite the highly racialized and often exploitative nature of the work, the Red Cap was a highly coveted job for college-bound black men determined to join New Yorks bourgeoning middle class. Examining the deeply intertwined subjects of class, labor, and African American history, Washington chronicles Williamss life, showing how the enterprising son of freed slaves successfully navigated the segregated world of the northern metropolis, and in so doing ultimately achieved financial and social influence. With this biography, Williams must now be considered, along with Cornelius Vanderbilt and Jacqueline Onassis, one of the great heroes of Grand Centrals storied past.Winner Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in New York History An at once inspiring and cautionary new social history of Harlem and beyond in the first half of the 20th century. Mr. Washington, an independent historian, reanimates a lost world of strivers who created a protean civic, artistic and commercial society to subvert the Jim Crow bias still resilient in the most liberal city in America.... An illuminating chronicle of success against the odds... Its poignant to read all the stories of dogged advancement through deft maneuvering within a rigged system. A thoroughly researched and illuminating biography.... Washington gives a palpable sense of the myriad obstacles blacks faced.... An absorbing, fresh perspective on black history. In this illuminating debut biography, historian Washington celebrates a black New Yorker who won authority and influence in a segregated economy.... He paints a vivid portrait of the bustling golden alƒI