Harvey Vick
Position Held
Dining Car Steward & Head Waiter
Railroad Line
Illinois Central
Trains Worked
City Of Miami, City of New Orleans
Years Worked
1939- 1971
Lived in South Fulton TN while working on the railroad.
Home Town
So Fulton TN
Salute to a So. Fulton , TN African American Railroad Family
The Illinois Central (later Gulf) Railroad afforded many residents of the Twin Cities a livelihood that provided employment security, travel opportunities, medical benefits, and a retirement program, dramatically changing the lives of thousands of African Americans for the better.
In return, many of those railroad employees were in positions to give back to the community...
Scroll to below photos for full story.
Salute to a So. Fulton , TN African American Railroad Family
The Illinois Central (later Gulf) Railroad afforded many residents of the Twin Cities a livelihood that provided employment security, travel opportunities, medical benefits, and a retirement program, dramatically changing the lives of thousands of African Americans for the better.
In return, many of those railroad employees were in positions to give back to the community and help to improve the lives for all residents. Three generations of our family worked for the IC: Robert Vick, spike driver; Harvey Vick, Sr., mail and baggage handler; and Harvey Vick, J r., dining car services. Though our paternal great grandmother, Sally Banham, did not work out of the Fulton operation, she too, worked for
the IC as a cook for a Paducah section crew. Finally, our step-grandfather, Walter Cavitt, worked for the Illinois Central Railroad as a brakeman. We are sure that were it not for our ancestors’ and our father’s ability to earn a “good” living, we would not have had the opportunities that we have had in our hometown as children and later in our adult lives.
We are very proud of our railroad-working grandparents who paved the way for us and contributed greatly to their communities. Robert Vick owned and operated the first Black grocery store in So. Fulton on the corner of Rosenwald Drive and McFall Streets, where the Vick’s General Merchandise building still stands. Bob Vick, as he was called, saved as much of his railroad wages as possible to purchase the land and build the small frame building that housed the first Vick’s store. The Vick grocery business tradition skipped a generation, but Harvey Vick, J r., his wife, Dorothy Vick, mother, Lucille Vick Cavitt, sister, Doris Vick, daughters, Sylvia and Sonja, and son, Harvey III operated the second Vick neighborhood grocery from 1954 – 1995.
The “Big IC,” as our father fondly called it, was not a perfect employer, but it provided the best work opportunities and the best pay for African Americans in Fulton/So. Fulton for many years. We were proud that our father worked for the railroad even though we were very sad each time he left us to “get his run.” However, the happiest day of every week was the day that Daddy returned. Meeting him at the train station when his train stopped in Fulton was also a thrill, and sometimes we felt that we were the children of the entire crew when other men, dressed like our dad, jumped off the train to say hello and give us a hug.
There was truly a fraternity of Illinois Central Railroad workers. They looked out for each other and were unselfish in their care of and generosity to their fellow employees. It is profoundly apparent that African American railroad workers of So. Fulton/Fulton set excellent examples for the young people of our community, demonstrating an enviable work ethic and a desire for self-improvement that, when emulated, led to the success of many who came after them.
THANK YOU ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD WORKERS
Harvey Vick, Sylvia Jenkins, and Sonja Fishco
February 2009
ROSENWALD SCHOOL
Harvey Vick graduated in 1928 from Rosenwald (Ken-Tenn Chronicles, pg 2). Following his graduation, Mr. Vick worked full-time as waiter-in-charge on the dining car of the Illinois Central Railroad. However, Mr. Vick gave back to his community by providing tools from home to volunteering to teach two to three classes per day, on his days off, Manual Training/Arts, otherwise referred to as Shop Class to boys “…so they would have marketable skills after finishing high school” (Fishco, V., personal communication, December 7, 2008). He also was instrumental in persuading Obion County to build the gym. “However, the county would not appropriate enough money to complete the building, so my father, the two Mr. Stunsons, William Rucker, Mr. Dumas, and tens of other South Fulton residents donated their time and talents to finish the building so we would have a place for gym classes and to play basketball”. (Fishco, S, personal communication, December 7, 2008). Today, the South Fulton Municipal Complex is home to the Harvey Vick Community Center dedicated to his honor in 2004 for his endless commitments and love for the community.