Union Pacific, in partnership with Joslyn Art Museum and the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs, Iowa, announces a new travelling exhibition in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The Race to Promontory: The Transcontinental Railroad and the American West celebrates the “Meeting of the Rails” at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, through the photographs and stereographs of Andrew Joseph Russell (1830–1902) and Alfred A. Hart (1816–1908). Drawn exclusively from the Union Pacific Historic Collection, located at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, these images represent the largest collection in the world of original photographs documenting the construction of the transcontinental railroad between 1866 and 1869.
Appropriately, this transformative endeavor was captured by the equally groundbreaking medium of photography, which was used to document the railroad’s arduous construction and then capture the moment of its completion and distribute it around the world. From east to west, the Union Pacific line was photographed by Russell, and west to east by Hart, for the Central Pacific. The Race to Promontory features 50 framed Imperial plate albumen prints by Russell, including images from his album, The Great West Illustrated, as well as rare, unpublished prints from the Union Pacific Collection, including Russell’s famous image from Promontory Summit, East and West Shaking Hands. One hundred eight stereograph cards by Hart will also be displayed, and two stereograph viewers will allow museum visitors to view Hart and Russell images in three dimensions. The exhibition will also include archival material from the Union Pacific Collection, commemorative objects relating to the events at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869—including the original “Arizona Spike” from the celebration of the laying of the last rail—as well as artifacts and records from the construction of the railroad. The UMFA exhibition will also include a selection of works from nineteenth-century Utah photographer Charles Savage, who composed scenes of the railroad and local landscapes to boost tourism and settlement.
In the decade following the Civil War, Russell and Hart benefitted from an unprecedented wave of government and corporate patronage that supported a legion of photographers working in the American West. And while no endeavor caught the nation’s interest more readily than the construction of the transcontinental railroad, their images also helped to define the unfamiliar landscapes beyond the Missouri River, capturing not only the engineering triumphs of the railroad, but the vast resources available for an expanding nation, as well as its pictorial beauty. Russell and Hart’s photographs offer an extraordinary account of the United States at the moment of its transformation by the greatest industrial accomplishment of the nineteenth century, images that still resonate powerfully a century and a half after their making.
“As the fine arts museum for the state of Utah, where the transcontinental railroad was completed, we are thrilled to bring the story of this landmark American moment and these historic photographs to our audiences,” says Gretchen Dietrich, UMFA executive director. “Through these images, visitors will not only connect with the story of the railroad but also explore the aesthetic considerations and challenges faced by nineteenth-century photographers. We’re thrilled to be working with the Joslyn Art Museum, Union Pacific, and the Union Pacific Museum to present an exhibition of such national and local significance.”
Scott Moore, Union Pacific senior vice president of Corporate Relations and chief administrative officer, said, “The transcontinental railroad formed our nation’s backbone, building communities along the way and uniting our nation. Union Pacific continues to be at the forefront of innovation, using technology to make meaningful change in every aspect of our business, enabling us to deliver the goods Americans use every day and help build safe, vibrant and prosperous communities in the 23 states where our employees live and work. The Race to Promontory exhibit underscores this connection and recognizes our responsibility to share our history with the American people.”
The completion of the transcontinental railroad was as celebrated a national—and international—event as the first moon landing, exactly a century later in 1969. Forty-six months after they began construction, the two railroads came together and officially “united” the United States. Western Union offered coverage direct from the scene—the first major news event carried “live” from coast-to-coast. Telegraph wires were attached to one of the ceremonial spikes and as it was gently tapped with a silver maul, the “strokes” were heard across the country. Whistles were blown in San Francisco, the Liberty Bell was rung in Philadelphia, and a ball was held in Washington, D.C.
The transcontinental railroad had opened the heart of the continent, and, within days of its completion, the country was transformed. Travel from New York to San Francisco was reduced from six months to 10 days, and at ten percent of the cost. This new era witnessed the development of settlements for millions of Americans and an incredible surge in industrial growth. Agricultural products were transported east from California, changing how Americans filled their dinner tables. The railroad led to the creation of Standard Time, to allow trains to move safely along a single track. Communication flowed quickly and reliably across the country on mail cars and by telegraph lines along the track. The railroad also connected the United States to the world, carrying products from Asia and Europe—the first freight shipment across the new railroad included casks of tea from Japan—and building new markets for both imported and exported goods.
Chinese and Irish immigrants made up the workforce for the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines, respectively. These newly minted Americans, joined by members of the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Utah, unified East and West only a few years after the Civil War, a political divide between North and South. On a larger scale, the railroad also obliterated the idea of the “frontier,” and forever changed the lives of indigenous Plains tribes, as new migration spurred by the railroad hastened the end of the Indian Wars and the beginning of the reservation era. The Pacific Railway and Homestead Act insured the resettlement of new territories under the control of the federal government, reinforcing the 19th century ideal of Manifest Destiny as the United States expanded from sea to sea.
On view:
Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE: October 6, 2018–January 6, 2019
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT: February 1–May 26, 2019
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA: June 23–September 29, 2019
More information: http://umfa.utah.edu
The ceremony spotlighted Union Pacific locomotive No. 119 meeting Central Pacific locomotive Jupiter.
From left, shaking hands, are Samuel S. Montague, chief engineer of the Central Pacific Railroad, and General Grenville M. Dodge, chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad.