The Race Underground

In March 1888, an early spring blizzard brought down power lines and paralyzed traffic in major northeastern American cities—a rude awakening to planners who realized that their cities were "choking on…progress." Perhaps America needed to look to underground routes to transport workers and shoppers. Partly based on Doug Most's titular 2014 book, filmmaker Michael Rossi's PBS-aired American Experience documentary, narrated by Michael Murphy, examines America's move away from horse-drawn cars and towards electric-powered streetcars and subways. The transition faced resistance: many Americans feared that underground air was poisonous, and some harbored the age-old belief that being underground brought you closer to the netherworld, and perhaps death itself. But engineer Frank Sprague, who had visited London's subway, saw possibilities. An associate to Thomas Edison, Sprague courted industrialists like Jay Gould and Henry Whitney for funding. After Sprague's groundbreaking work moving streetcars up and down the hills of Richmond, VA, he got the go ahead to plan something similar for Boston. Merchants and traditionalists feared disruption to Boston's famed common, but the city's progressive mayor pushed for work to begin. Unfortunately, their worst fears were realized in a deadly gas explosion, and further delays were encountered when a Revolutionary War-era graveyard was discovered along the transportation route. This "jump into the unknown" required backbreaking work from Irish and Italian laborers, using axes and shovels. Construction was ultimately completed in 1897, and the line would carry over a million passengers during its first year. New York and Philadelphia took note and followed. Sprague was always overshadowed by Edison, never receiving proper credit for his innovations, making this documentary—which combines testimony from historians with numerous vintage photographs—a welcome one. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)