PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA leaders and employees paused Thursday to honor eight Black trolley operators at the center of a turbulent time in the city's transit history.
In August 1944 white trolley operators for the Philadelphia Transportation Company went on strike because they didn't want eight Black people promoted to those higher-paying streetcar operator positions. The strike kept workers from their wartime manufacturing jobs, so President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent federal troops to Philadelphia to end the week-long strike.
During a Black History Month ceremony at SEPTA's Frankford District headquarters, SEPTA honored those eight operators. "These brave men took a stand and fought for their right to do the job that they wanted to do," said Interim General Manager Scott Sauer.
"We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us," said SEPTA board chair Ken Lawrence. "It makes us stronger, not weaker, to acknowledge where we've come from and where we need to go."
SEPTA's Chief Culture and Social Impact Officer, Emmanuella Myrthil was among the executives and employees paying tribute to the city's first Black streetcar operators.
"We have examples of eight individuals who had to self-advocate and stand in the face of some strong opposition," Myrthil told KYW Newsradio. "We can't even imagine what these eight individuals and more went through, right? I'm sure there were more than we didn't learn about."
Lawrence noted that after the August 1944 strike, change was swift. "By October, the number of African-American trolley operators had doubled," Lawrence said. "We can appreciate this progress while also reflecting on the work he have ahead and the work that still needs to be done."
Today, of SEPTA's 299 trolley operators, more than 89% are Black.