Editing Pullman porter (section)

{{Short description|Passenger railroad car worker}}
{{For|the film|The Pullman Porter{{!}}''The Pullman Porter''}}

[[Image:Pullman Porter Helping Woman.gif|thumb|A Pullman porter assisting a [[passenger]] with her luggage]]

'''Pullman porters''' were men hired to work for the railroads as [[Porter (railroad)|porters]] on [[sleeping car]]s.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite episode| title=Pullman Porters Helped Build Black Middle Class| series=[[All Things Considered]]| date=May 7, 2009| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103880184| network=[[NPR]]| access-date=12 March 2018| archive-date=14 October 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014114611/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103880184| url-status=live}}</ref> Starting shortly after the [[American Civil War]], [[George Pullman]] sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passengers’ baggage, shine shoes, set up and maintain the sleeping berths, and serve passengers. Pullman porters served American railroads from the late 1860s until the [[Pullman Company]] ceased its United States operations on December 31, 1968, though some sleeping-car porters continued working on cars operated by the railroads themselves and, beginning in 1971, [[Amtrak]]. The Pullman Company also operated sleeping cars in Mexico from the 1880s until November 13, 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pullman Notes and Timeline |url=https://utahrails.net/pass/pass-pullman.php |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=utahrails.net}}</ref> The term "porter" has been superseded in modern American usage by "sleeping car attendant", with the former term being considered "somewhat derogatory".<ref name="Museum of the American Railroad">{{cite web| title=Service and Grace amid a Class Struggle: The Story of the Pullman Porter| url=http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/learn/thelegacyofpullmanporters.aspx| website=[[Museum of the American Railroad]]| access-date=12 March 2018| archive-date=13 March 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313031627/http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/learn/thelegacyofpullmanporters.aspx| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Until the 1960s, Pullman porters in the United States were almost exclusively black, and have been widely credited with contributing to the development of the [[Black middle class|black middle class in the United States]]. Under the leadership of [[A. Philip Randolph]], Pullman porters formed the first all-black union, the [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]], in 1925. The union was instrumental in the advancement of the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. Porters worked under the supervision of a Pullman conductor (distinct from the railroad's own [[conductor (rail)|conductor]] in overall charge of the train), who was invariably white.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Powe, Jr.| first1=Lucas A.| title=America's Lone Star Constitution: How Supreme Court Cases from Texas Shape the Nation| year=2018|publisher=University of California Press| location=Oakland| isbn=978-0-5202-9781-4| page=111| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLdKDwAAQBAJ&q=pullman+conductor&pg=PA77| access-date=12 March 2018| archive-date=5 January 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105024019/https://books.google.com/books?id=vLdKDwAAQBAJ&q=pullman+conductor&pg=PA77#v=snippet&q=pullman%20conductor&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> The Pullman Company employed Mexican men as porters in Mexico.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last1=Spero |first1=Sterling D. |title=20. The Pullman Porters |date=2019-05-06 |pages=430–460 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/sper93144-021/pdf |access-date=2024-04-02 |publisher=Columbia University Press |language=en |doi=10.7312/sper93144-021 |isbn=978-0-231-89223-0 |last2=Harris |first2=Abram L.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In addition to sleeping cars, Pullman also provided [[parlor car]]s and [[dining car]]s used by some railroads which did not operate their own; the dining cars were typically staffed with African-American cooks and waiters, under the supervision of a white steward:<ref>{{cite book| last1=Porterfield| first1=James D.|title=Dining By Rail: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine| year=1993| publisher=St. Martin's Griffin| location=New York City| page=79| isbn=978-0-3121-8711-8| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfHPhP0HLLEC&q=steward&pg=PA44|access-date=12 March 2018|archive-date=5 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105023932/https://books.google.com/books?id=wfHPhP0HLLEC&q=steward&pg=PA44#v=snippet&q=steward&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> "With the advent of the dining car, it was no longer possible to have the conductor and porters do double duty: a dining car required a trained staff" and "depending on the train and the sophistication of the meals, a staff could consist of a dozen men."<ref>{{cite book| last1=Quinzio|first1=Jeri| title=Food on the Rails: The Golden Era of Railroad Dining| date=2014| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield| location=Lanham, Maryland| isbn=978-1-4422-2733-0| page=27| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKHYBAAAQBAJ&q=steward&pg=PA27| access-date=12 March 2018| archive-date=5 January 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105023917/https://books.google.com/books?id=gKHYBAAAQBAJ&q=steward&pg=PA27#v=snippet&q=steward&f=false| url-status=live}}</ref> A small number of Asian Americans worked in Pullman dining cars following the 1950s.<ref name=":1" /> 

Pullman also employed African-American maids on deluxe trains to care for women's needs, especially women with children; in 1926, Pullman employed about 200 maids and over 10,000 porters.<ref>{{cite book| last1=Chateauvert| first1=Melinda| title=Marching Together: Women of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters| year=1998| publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Urbana| isbn=978-0-2520-2340-8| pages=[https://archive.org/details/marchingtogether0000chat/page/22 22]–27| url=https://archive.org/details/marchingtogether0000chat| url-access=registration| quote=Maids worked on the "deluxe" and limited runs...| access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref> Maids assisted ladies with bathing, gave manicures and dressed hair, sewed and pressed clothing, shined shoes, and helped care for children. The [[Central of Georgia Railway]] continued using this service as a selling point in their advertisements for the ''[[Nancy Hanks (train)|Nancy Hanks]]'' well into the 1950s.<ref>{{cite episode |last=Tye |first=Larry |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103933268 |title=Pullman Porters, Creating A Black Middle Class |series=[[Fresh Air]] |network=[[NPR]] |access-date=2023-02-16 |archive-date=2011-12-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111211052217/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103933268 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/mar/23/african-american-railroad-experience/ |title=The African-American Railroad Experience |date=23 March 2010 |work=[[KPBS (TV)|KPBS News]] |first1=Maureen |last1=Cavanaugh |first2=Pat |last2=Finn |access-date=2023-02-16 |archive-date=2012-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628162145/http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/mar/23/african-american-railroad-experience/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated5 />