Interviews of Leo Gaskins, William C. Kingfish Wright, and Leonard Oscar Johnston by Stanley Grizzle

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In Folder: R12294-276-X

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Interviews of Leo Gaskins, William C. Kingfish Wright, and Leonard Oscar Johnston by Stanley Grizzle

This sound recording contains interviews with three individuals. Leo Gaskins discusses his experiences as a sleeping car porter, noting how his father and brothers were also porters while his mother was involved in the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. William C. Kingfish Wright [begins at 00:16:24] recounts the time he spent as a young adult as a member of the Harlem Aces, an all-Black orchestra that originated in Toronto, was excluded from the Toronto Musicians’ Union, and travelled to music gigs in small towns throughout Ontario, especially during the summer. He then speaks about his experiences as a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), noting the struggles to unionize, key union leaders, the differences between the CPR and Canadian National Railway, and what it was like to be a porter travelling throughout Canada and the United States during the 1950s and 1960s. Leonard Oscar Johnston [Second sound file, begins at 00:24:04] begins by explaining all of the jobs he had as a child, beginning at the age of six. He then proceeds to recount his experiences as a porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway, stressing that while it was a good, stable job, he did not enjoy it. Early working conditions, which included long days and lots of unpaid time, along with illness were some of the reasons why he disliked it. He also speaks about his membership in the Communist Party of Canada and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and how the former impacted his ability to be involved in the union.

Metadata Object Description - Record Information

Record Identifier: 3776753

Record Origin: This MODS record was created from an item-level archival description maintained in Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC).

Record Origin: Cette notice MODS a été créée à partir d'une description archivistique à l'item versée dans le système interne (MISACS) de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada (BAC).

Record Creation Date: 2024-05-21

Description Standard: Rules for Archival Description (RAD)

Description Standard: Règles pour la description des documents d'archives (RDDA)