Balbir Singh LAX Shuttle Driver Permit
Balbir Singh LAX Shuttle Driver Permit
Usage conditions apply
- Description
- Balbir Sodhi used this license during his role as a taxi driver in Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1987 to around 2000.
- Escaping the religious persecution of Sikhs in his native India, Balbir Singh Sodhi emigrated to the United States in 1987, hoping to use his university training in mechanical engineering to make a living. Instead, he drove a taxi for thirteen years in Los Angeles and then San Francisco. By 2000 he had saved enough money to open his own gas station in Mesa, Arizona. He did well helping fellow immigrants as they tried to get a start.
- Seven days after terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, Sodhi was shot and killed outside his station, mistaken for an Arab Muslim.
- Object Name
- permit
- date made
- 1994
- Physical Description
- plastic (overall material)
- paper (overall material)
- metal (clip material)
- Measurements
- overall: 2 13/16 in x 4 3/32 in; 7.112 cm x 10.414 cm
- ID Number
- 2011.0255.03
- catalog number
- 2011.0255.03
- accession number
- 2011.0255
- Credit Line
- Gift of Rana Singh Sodhi
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Asian Pacific American Business
- Cultures & Communities
- Work
- American Enterprise
- Exhibition
- American Enterprise
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.
