Light at the end of the tunnel
Legacy of Black Mountain brakeman proves unstoppable
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
January 1, 2021
Leslie Whittington stands next to new metal sign attached to the red caboose near the Old Depot in downtown Black Mountain recognizing his father, George Winslow Whittington. Winslow, as he was known, was a resident of the town for 42 years, a Southern Railroad Co. employee for more than 50 years and reportedly the first African American brakeman in N.C. Photo by Fred McCormick
The arrival of the railroad and the very existence of Black Mountain are forever intertwined. When the town was established in 1893, the first leaders chose to change the name of what was previously known as Grey Eagle to Black Mountain, borrowing the moniker of the bustling train depot that supported the burgeoning district.
At the very heart of the town sits a 1960s-era red caboose, celebrating the industry that gave birth to the thriving Swannanoa Valley that exists today, and a new metal sign affixed to the rear of the train car displays a clear image of the face of a Black Mountain man who lived and breathed the railroad for more than half a century.
George Winslow Whittington was born in the Pleasant Gardens community of McDowell County in 1900, a little more than two decades after hundreds of imprisoned Black laborers lost their lives blasting tunnels and laying tracks that would elevate the first steam engines into the state’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Whittington’s father, Benjamin Franklin Whittington, was one of many residents of the surrounding rural community who found steady work on the rails around the turn of the century. With Benjamin’s oldest son fighting a war overseas and the recent death of a teenage son, 9-year-old Winslow, as he was known, took a job with the railroad carrying water for the laborers.
While he may not have realized it at the time, Winslow would dedicate more than half a century to ensuring the safe transportation of passengers and goods while becoming a pioneer in one of the most perilous jobs the industry had to offer.
Faces in public spaces
By the age of 18, Winslow had grown into a towering young man living in Ridgecrest and working as a section laborer for Southern Railroad Co., which became Norfolk Southern in 1982. A year later he was employed as an “extra force” with the company, while his father worked as a section hand.
Winslow and his wife Minnie Stepp Whittington would later settle in the Cragmont community of Black Mountain where they would raise nine children, and the railroad offered the husband an opportunity to provide for the large family.
While there were many inherent dangers associated with working on the rails in the early 20th century, the position of brakeman was perhaps the most treacherous. The job responsibilities included walking from car to car to manually set brakes, as the train thundered up and down the mountains, through tunnels and around curves.
Winslow was known for his affable nature among family and friends, but his toughness, intellect and tremendous work ethic earned him a brakeman position with the railroad company by 1940.
A vintage image of George Winslow Whittington is one of several that his granddaughter, Regina Lynch-Hudson, worked with experts to restore. Image courtesy of Regina Lynch-Hudson
“During an era when Confederate statues are being removed countrywide, our ancestors are stepping up and claiming their hard-won deserved places in public spaces,” said Regina Lynch-Hudson, a semi-retired publicist, thorough and dedicated reviver of family history, Black Mountain native and granddaughter of Winslow.
“The faces displayed in a township reflect the values of that community. People are visual at their core. They may not remember seeing only a name, but they will remember seeing a face,” said Lynch-Hudson, whose efforts to shine a light on the faces and stories of prominent local family members led her to collaborate with the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center for both a large-scale interior installation and online exhibit, Strength Stems from Struggle. “When a culture is not visually highlighted in communities that they helped build, they feel insignificant, excluded or invisible.”
A longtime resident of Atlanta, Lynch-Hudson was encouraged to see the mural at Black Mountain Brewing honoring native Roberta Flack during one of her frequent trips to her hometown.
Well into her own five-year plan of producing literary and visual projects across the country that recognize the historical contributions of her ancestors, she wanted to tell Winslow’s story in a place that was not only significant to him, but also highly visible. She worked with restoration experts to convert small blurry photos into large, high-quality images of her grandfather to use for the metal sign, which was created in collaboration with SVM and the Old Depot Association. The installation includes a scannable QR code that links to a brief YouTube documentary, produced by Lynch-Hudson, about her grandfather.
A track to a bright future
The darkness of the seven tunnels that connect the Swannanoa Valley to Old Fort could be unnerving to some, but the light at the end of each would often represent a return home for Winslow. His wife and children were always eager to greet him, according to his son Leslie, who now lives in Weaverville.
“Dad worked all the time, and sometimes he would be gone for days,” said Les, the eighth of the Whittington children. “He was up and gone before we ever woke up, and he wouldn’t come back until 8 or 9 p.m. But, we all knew he loved us because he and my mother sacrificed so much for us.”
While long hours of grueling work kept Winslow busy most of the time, he cherished time with his children and instilled many of the qualities that would lead them to success in life.
“Education was drilled into us, it was our ticket to a better life,” said Les, who is also one of seven Whittington children to earn a college degree. “We were taught that education was going to help us find jobs we could be proud of. He used to tell us, ‘you have brains, and getting a degree will help you get in the door to show people what you got.’”
Winslow’s railroad career not only supported the family, it opened a door to the rest of the world. Utilizing the train passes her husband received from Southern Railroad, Minnie would frequently take the children on trips throughout the southeast.
“I went to Washington, D.C. when I was a small child, and when I was 8 or 10 years old I went to Greensboro to see my brother, and I caught the train right here,” Les recalled just feet away from where the sign recognizing his father is displayed. “My sisters went to visit another one of our sisters who lived in Tuskegee, and they traveled to Atlanta, Pittsburgh and all kinds of places.”
Freedom to travel and exposure to larger cities were not experiences commonly enjoyed by African Americans at that time, he added.
“That was something that was afforded to me that a lot of Black people just couldn’t do,” Les said. “And, that opportunity had a big impact on our family.”
More than a brakeman
Winslow also shared his passion for the railroad, taking his children to the depot in downtown Black Mountain and studying the engines and train cars arriving and departing.
“I remember standing here with my dad one time as the trains went by, and each time one passed the man standing on the back was waving,” Les said. “After a few passed, I started waving back because I thought they were waving at me. Years later, I realized those men were all waving to my dad. Everyone knew him and he was highly respected.”
The same was true in Black Mountain, where Winslow was a pillar of the Cragmont community and the superintendent of Sunday School at the Thomas Chapel AME Zion Church.
“He was highly religious and accepted everyone, and he taught us to do the same,” Les said. “He was a kind man, and his strength came from his faith.”
While Winslow’s work required a level of ruggedness, his demeanor away from the job was always warm and caring.
“When he was home on Sundays, he would put us in the car and take us for a ride,” Les said. “He would take us to the store where they sold Dixi Colas and candy while mom stayed home and cooked dinner. We’d ride around, listen to the radio, watch the planes land at the old airfield in Black Mountain and drink our sodas and eat our candy.”
As a parent, Winslow passed along the values he held dear to his children.
“He instilled in us that there was dignity in work,” Les said. “Him and my mother made sure we knew that.”
A story that needs to be told
While widely respected by his community and colleagues, a fall from the top of a moving train in the 1950s proved Winslow, as an African American, was not immune to the racist laws of the day.
“He broke a bunch of ribs,” Les said. “He had a really light complexion, so he was taken to a white hospital. When they found out he was Black, they sent him to a Black hospital to be treated.”
Winslow, however, was never deterred by the misguided views of others, focusing instead on his faith, family, work and passion for the railroad.
“He could’ve done any job on that train,” Les said of his father, whose career spanned the transition from steam to diesel engines. “I remember standing here with him while he would explain, in great detail, what every person on each train did. He was incredibly smart, and there is no telling what he would have been able to accomplish if he had been born in a different time. But he worked twice as hard as everyone else to get where he did, and that makes me proud.”
The travel made possible by Winslow’s train passes left a family legacy that continues today. Lynch-Hudson’s vast portfolio as a travel writer includes countless reviews of famous historic sites around the globe.
“I grew up in Black Mountain where the train tracks were a central focal point of downtown,” she said. “Never did I imagine that the tracks in the small valley would someday lead to ports abroad like Tokyo, Cairo, Cape Town and Istanbul.”
Regina Lynch-Hudson, a semi-retired publicist and Black Mountain native, is working to bring recognition to her ancestors by telling their stories and displaying their faces in public spaces. Lynch-Hudson collaborated with the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center and the Old Depot Association to produce a metal sign honoring her grandfather, George Winslow Whittington, a resident of Black Mountain for more than 40 years and reportedly the first African American brakeman in N.C. Photo courtesy of Regina Lynch-Hudson
Displaying the face and story of her grandfather in a central public location will amplify Winslow’s contribution to the railroad and his community, according to Lynch-Hudson. The sign’s location in the heart of the Valley, which has earned recognition from Oprah Magazine, Southern Living and TripAdvisor as a premier small-town tourist destination, ensures his legacy of hard work, bravery and dedication to his family will be shared for generations to come.
For her uncle, Les, the sign itself is a way to honor his father in a place that was special to him well after his retirement in 1963, until he passed away in Black Mountain seven years later.
“I owe it to my dad to tell his story,” he said. “He was an amazing man, and that’s just one way for me to thank him.”