{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Move Over, Sir! How Women Took the Throttle on America\u2019s Railroads","description":"Move Over, Sir! How Women Took the Throttle on America\u2019s Railroads The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series, right here on radio and podcast. I\u2019m Paul Vogelzang, and today\u2019s episode is part of our special 60th Anniversary celebration with Smithsonian Associates\u2014marking six decades of education, inspiration, and powerful storytelling. And this one, friends, is both powerful and long overdue.   You\u2019re about to hear a remarkable conversation with Smithsonian Associate Patricia LaBounty, curator of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, about an exhibit that challenges history\u2019s blind spots and spotlights the women who helped build\u2014and quite literally run\u2014the railroads of America.  Patricia LaBounty will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates, and the title of her presentation is Move Over Sir: Women Working on the Railroad.  More details are available via links in out show notes today.    The exhibit is titled \u201cMove Over, Sir!\u201d, and the title isn\u2019t just clever. It\u2019s a line drawn in iron, a statement about persistence in the face of exclusion. When we think of the railroad, we often picture smoke-belching locomotives, dusty rail yards, and stoic men in overalls. What we don\u2019t picture\u2014at least not often enough\u2014are the women at the telegraph, in the ticket booth, on the repair lines, and yes, in the engineer\u2019s seat. From the Civil War, when more than 100,000 women filled vital rail roles as men went to battle\u2026 to the 1930s when Union Pacific created women-only cars staffed by trained nurse-stewardesses\u2026 to trailblazers like Bonnie Leake, the first female engineer at UP, and Edwina Justus, the first Black woman in that role\u2014this is history that\u2019s gritty, inspiring, and still unfolding.   Smithsonian Associate Patricia LaBounty joins us to share these stories and more: women who were told to step aside, sit down, or stay home\u2014and who refused. These are the voices that helped carry this country forward, and it's our honor to put them front and center today.   So, settle in. You\u2019ll never hear the words \u201call aboard\u201d quite the same way again. Here now, with the music of Glen Miller echoing in the background\u2014a nod to the rail era that changed this country\u2014our conversation with Patricia LaBounty, curator of \u201cMove Over, Sir!\u201d at the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.   And this is The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. I\u2019m Paul Vogelzang. Let\u2019s begin.   That\u2019s our show for today. Again, a very special thanks to Patricia LaBounty, curator of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, and to all those women\u2014past and present\u2014who\u2019ve shown what strength, skill, and leadership look like on and off the tracks.   Patricia LaBounty will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates, and the title of her presentation is Move Over Sir: Women Working on the Railroad.  More details are available via links in our show notes today.    To hear more inspiring conversations like this one and explore our full archive of interviews, visit us online at notold-better.com. While you're there, you can listen to past Smithsonian Associates episodes and catch up on our 60th Anniversary series. Follow us on social media: \ud83d\udcf1 Twitter: @notoldbetter \ud83d\udcf8 Instagram: @notoldbetter And if you enjoyed today\u2019s episode, share it with someone who appreciates history, grit, and a good story well told. This is a production of N.O.B.S. Studios, and I\u2019m your host, Paul Vogelzang. Thanks for spending time with us today\u2014and I hope you\u2019ll join me again next time. Until then, be well, be safe, and remember Let\u2019s Talk About Better. The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series, and it\u2019s never too late to live with purpose. Smithsonian Associates details and website URL:  https:\/\/smithsonianassociates.org\/ticketing\/programs\/women-working-on-railroad ","author_name":"The Not Old - Better Show","author_url":"https:\/\/www.notold-better.com\/","html":"