Image: Grohmann Museum, Milwaukee
The exhibition documents Bertucci’s experience working as a brakeman for The Milwaukee Road from 1974 to 1977, including railroad workers and a period of industrial and social transformation.
Lina Bertucci was hired by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, known as The Milwaukee Road, in 1974 as a brakeman, or brakewoman. She was the second woman to work in the Milwaukee Road yards, following her aunt Cindy Angelos; both entered training on the same day.
Their arrival challenged the male-dominated field, and they established themselves by demonstrating competence in the job’s many challenges. As an aspiring artist, Bertucci brought a camera to the railroad job, initially hoping simply to fit in.
Her photographs offer an insider’s view of a world few had access to but that affected many people.
A Gallery Night on Oct. 16 will include a talk with Bertucci and Cindy Angelos, identified in the announcement as the first women to work in the Milwaukee Road yards.
