Saturday September 20, 1930

This day Josephine and her Louisiana companions said farewell to the friends that they had made in the various state contingents.

Josephine and her traveling companions remained at the Hotel McAlphin until they were escorted to the train at Penn Station in New York by Captain William Hesketh. There the Army escort’s responsibilities to Josephine and her companions ended. However, the Army had arrangements with the railroad attendants to help each pilgrim get back to her home safely and without any problems.

Josephine probably still wore her Gold Star Mothers badge. The government had arranged for any woman who wore this distinctive badge to be accorded VIP privileges on busses, trains, in taxi cabs, etc. – any place she went, both in America and Europe.

The train from New York, Train Number 133 of the Pennsylvania Railroad line, left Penn Station at 4:50 pm in the early evening hours of Saturday, September 20. It was a five-hour trip from New York to Washington, DC. Josephine was in Car E71, lower berth 5.

Arriving in Washington, DC around 10 pm, Josephine and her companions switched to the Southern Railway, Train Number 41, for the next phase of the trip – the next major destination, Lynchburg, Virginia. Josephine slept while the train traveled on through Virginia.

En route to New Orleans, Josephine and her companions traveled in a standard sleeper car, with a lower berth. Many of the sleeper cars were operated by the Pullman Company. Josephine was traveling by rail at a time when service and comfort mattered. The shoes of every passenger were shined overnight while their owners slept. The Pullman Company’s policy of personal courtesy and considerate attention to the passengers was carried out cheerfully by thousands of Pullman porters.

Aboard trains in this era of traveling in style by train, fine dining and congenial lounges were standard fare. As in her trip from Morganza to New York, Josephine ate several meals on the train, all paid for by the United States Government. Probably before leaving New York, Josephine and her companions were given a certain amount of money to pay for their meals and incidental expenses that were incurred as they traveled from New York back to their homes in Louisiana.

The Missouri delegation had plans for more sightseeing before each mother or widow returned to her own home. Traveling from New York to Washington, DC, instead of continuing to their homes in Missouri, the Missouri delegation participated in a visit to the nation’s capital – the first Gold Star Mother and Widow pilgrimage ever to visit Washington, DC as part of a Gold Star pilgrimage. (It is my understanding that this part of the trip was not paid for by the U.S. Government – it was an add on planned by the Missouri delegation and paid for by each pilgrim who chose this addition to the pilgrimage.)

Josephine and her Louisiana companions ended this first day of the journey home asleep in a sleeper car on the long train trip back to Louisiana; Mrs. Fannie Fine and members of the Missouri delegation had spent this day and night being entertained in Washington, DC.


Source: written by Carolyn Ourso