ABSTRACT
The railroads in the United States (US), note scholars, were likely the earliest users in the US of modern public relations. By the mid-20th century, US railroads had an established track record of emphasizing the importance of American progress through a sense of pioneering self-reliance and enterprise. This chapter shows that, in response, Norfolk and Western Railway attempted to cast itself as a fellow individual who advocated for the American way of life through the preservation of the free market system. It examines how the Norfolk and Western Magazine, from 1949 to 1952, demonstrated the company’s attempts to manage these stressors through offering articles that emphasized the company’s role as a fellow advocate in the preservation of the American free enterprise system. Attorney Richberg amplified the contrast between the opportunity of capitalism versus the constraints of socialism. Americans believe that the free enterprise system is better equipped to help people move out of poverty than is the state.
