Editor’s Introduction What would the history of transportation look like if the stories were about people rather than machines? About the constant presence of human power instead of the rise, expansion, and decline of transportation networks? The exhibits that follow tell the histories of the people without whom transportation systems would not function. From brick […]

Robin B. Williams, Savannah College of Art and Design Table of Contents Street Pavements before Asphalt The Labor of Street Paving Cleaning Streets Heritage Work Notes Introduction The paving of streets with macadam, blocks or bricks represented a vital development in the modernization of cities beginning in the nineteenth century. It also represented the product […]

Lee Vinsel, Virginia Tech Table of Contents Introduction How Can Danger Go Unnoticed? Crash Tests as Necessary Work Instrumenting a Car for Crashing How to Standardize a Wall Fiat’s Non-Conforming Testing Grounds Keeping Dangerous Technologies Off the Road Notes Introduction Figure 1. A Parking Lot Full of Cars That Were Traded in Because They Contained Defective […]

Jennifer Hart, Wayne State University Table of Contents Body work Mammy trucks Training drivers Testing officers Local transport cultures “Modern men” Trotro – a “proper” car Urbanization and technological change New models, old business Economic crisis and creativity Conclusion References Introduction This exhibit uses a technological object – the “mammy truck” – as a framework […]