Editing Pullman porter

{{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 The term "porter" has been superseded in modern American usage by "sleeping car attendant", with the former term being considered "somewhat derogatory".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 />

==History==
[[File:Pullman dining car 1894.jpg|thumb|Pullman advertising poster, 1894, depicting a Pullman waiter]]

Prior to the 1860s, the concept of [[sleeping car]]s on railroads had not been widely developed. [[George Pullman]] pioneered sleeping accommodations on trains, and by the late 1860s, he was hiring only African-Americans to serve as porters. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] ended in 1865 Pullman knew that there was a large pool of former slaves who would be looking for work; he also had a very clear racial conception.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{cite web |first=Lawrence |last=Tye |url=http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/choosing-servility-staff-americas-trains |title=Choosing Servility To Staff America's Trains| website=Alicia Patterson Foundation |date=2011-05-05 |access-date=2013-07-19 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053613/http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/choosing-servility-staff-americas-trains |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was aware that most Americans, unlike the wealthy, did not have personal servants in their homes.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Pullman also knew the wealthy were accustomed to being served by a [[livery|liveried]] waiter or butler, but to staff the Pullman cars with "properly humble" workers in uniform was something the American [[middle class]] had never experienced.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} Hence, part of the appeal of traveling on sleeping cars was, in a sense, to have an [[upper class]] experience.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

From the start, Pullman's ads promoting his new sleeper service featured these porters. Initially, they were one of the features that most clearly distinguished his carriages from those of competitors, but eventually nearly all would follow his lead, hiring African-Americans as porters, cooks, waiters and [[Porter (carrier)|Red Caps]] (railway station porters).<ref name="autogenerated3"/> According to the Museum of the American Railroad:

{{blockquote|text=The Pullman Company was a separate business from the railroad lines. It owned and operated sleeping cars that were attached to most long-distance passenger trains. Pullman was essentially a chain of hotels on wheels ... Pullman provided a Porter (attendant) that prepared the beds in the evening and made them in the morning. Porters attended to additional needs such as room service from the dining car, sending and receiving telegrams, shining shoes, and valet service.<ref name="Museum of the American Railroad"/>}}

[[File:Pullman porter making an upper berth aboard the Capitol Limited bound for Chicago.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Pullman porter making an upper berth aboard the [[Baltimore and Ohio Railroad|B&O]] ''[[Capitol Limited (B&O train)|Capitol Limited]]'' bound for Chicago]]

{{anchor|George}}While the pay was very low by the standards of the day, in an era of significant racial prejudice, being a Pullman porter was one of the best jobs available for African-American men. Thus, for black men, while this was an opportunity, at the same time it was also an experience of being stereotyped as the servant class and having to take a lot of abuse. Many passengers called every porter "George", as if he were George Pullman's "boy" (servant), a practice that was born in the South where slaves were named after their slavemasters/owners. The only ones who protested were other men named George, who founded the [[Society for the Prevention of Calling Sleeping Car Porters "George"]], or SPCSCPG, which eventually claimed 31,000 members.<ref name=autogenerated3 /> Although the SPCSCPG was more interested in defending the dignity of its white members than in achieving any measure of racial justice, it nevertheless had some effects for all porters. In 1926, the SPCSCPG persuaded the Pullman Company to install small racks in each car, displaying a card with the given name of the porter on duty. Of the 12,000 porters and waiters then working for Pullman, only 362 turned out to be named George. [[Stanley G. Grizzle]], a former Canadian porter, titled his autobiography, ''My Name's Not George: The Story of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.''<ref>{{cite web| last=Ito| first=Gail Arlene| date=2008-04-16| title=Stanley G. Grizzle (1918– )| website=The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed| url=https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/grizzle-stanley-g-1918/| access-date=2021-02-26| language=en-US| archive-date=2021-02-15| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215031649/https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/grizzle-stanley-g-1918/| url-status=live}}</ref>

Porters were not paid a [[Living wage|livable wage]] and needed to rely on tips to earn enough to make a living. Walter Biggs, son of a Pullman porter, spoke of memories of being a Pullman porter as told to him by his father:

{{blockquote|text=One of the most remarkable stories I liked hearing about was how when [[Jackie Gleason]] would ride ... all the porters wanted to be on that run. The reason why? Not only because he gave every porter $100.00, but it was just the fun, the excitement, the respect that he gave the porters. Instead of their names being George, he called everybody by their first name. He always had like a piano in the car and they sang and danced and had a great time. He was just a fun person to be around.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web |url=http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,41 |title=Pullman Porters, The: From Servitude to Civil Rights |website=WTTW: Chicago Stories |access-date=2013-07-19 |archive-date=2013-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909171644/http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,41 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

The number of porters employed by railroads declined as sleeping car service dwindled in the 1960s as passenger numbers dwindled due to competition from auto and air travel, and sleeping car services were discontinued on many trains. By 1969, the ranks of the Pullman sleeping car porters had declined to 325 men with an average age of 63.<ref name="Meriden Journal">{{cite news|title=The Sad Plight of Passenger Service| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N69IAAAAIBAJ&pg=1433,367540&dq=pullman+porters+phased+out&hl=en| access-date=14 November 2013|newspaper=The Meriden Journal| date=6 January 1969| archive-date=18 May 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518010809/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N69IAAAAIBAJ&pg=1433,367540&dq=pullman+porters+phased+out&hl=en| url-status=live}}</ref>

==Duties and wages==
[[File:Parlor car-Oriental Limited circa 1910s.JPG|thumb|A porter is shown vacuuming the carpet in a [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] parlor car, circa 1910.]]
[[File:Oriental Limited dining car.JPG|thumb|right|Porters serving in a dining car, circa 1927]]

A porter was expected to greet passengers, carry baggage, make up the sleeping berths, serve food and drinks brought from the dining car, shine shoes, and keep the cars tidy. He needed to be available night and day to wait on the passengers. He was expected to always smile; thus the porters often called the job, ironically, "miles of smiles".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paulwagnerfilms.com/miles-of-smiles-about-porters/ |title=Miles of Smiles – About Pullman Porters |website=Paul Wagner Films |access-date=2013-07-19 |archive-date=2014-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234403/http://www.paulwagnerfilms.com/miles-of-smiles-about-porters/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to historian Greg LeRoy, "A Pullman Porter was really kind of a glorified hotel maid and bellhop in what Pullman called a hotel on wheels. The Pullman Company thought of the porters as a piece of equipment, just like another button on a panel{{Snd}}the same as a light switch or a fan switch."<ref name=autogenerated5>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-pullman-porters-180959663/| title=Five Things to Know About Pullman Porters| first=Erin| last=Blakemore| date=June 20, 2016| magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]| access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref> Porters worked 400 hours a month or 11,000 miles, sometimes as much as 20 hours at a stretch. They were expected to arrive at work several hours early to prepare their car, on their own time; they were charged whenever their passengers stole a towel or a water pitcher. On overnight trips, they were allocated only three to four hours of sleep{{Snd}}and that was deducted from their pay.<!-- Fake reference existed at end of paragraph preceding this comment – numbered 7. Probably wasn't reference 7 that exists now (2021-02-26). Please resolve if possible. -->

A 1926 report by the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (which finally achieved recognition by the Pullman Company in 1937), using the results of a survey by the Labor Bureau, Inc., stated that the minimum monthly wage for a regular porter was $72.50, with the average being $78.11, and tips on average amounting to $58.15; however, porters had to pay for their own meals, lodging, uniforms, and shoe-shine supplies, amounting to an average of $33.82 a month.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Pullman Porter| year=1926| publisher=Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters| location=New York City| url=http://publications.newberry.org/pullman/archive/files/4c057c714cf8431860c75a02d4b1756b.pdf| access-date=14 March 2018| archive-date=14 March 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314104708/http://publications.newberry.org/pullman/archive/files/4c057c714cf8431860c75a02d4b1756b.pdf| url-status=dead}}</ref> Overtime pay of 60 cents per 100 miles was paid only for monthly service in excess of 11,000 miles, or about 400 hours of road service in a month. Maids received a minimum of $70 a month, with the same overtime provision, but they received fewer tips. By contrast, Pullman conductors, who already had a recognized union to bargain for them, earned a minimum $150 a month for 240 hours' work. The company offered a health, disability, and life insurance plan for $28 a year, and paid a pension of $18 a month to porters who reached age 70 and had at least 20 years of service. The BSCP booklet also reports that in 1925 the Pullman Company paid out over $10 million in dividends to stockholders from an aggregate net company income of more than $19 million.

"It didn't pay a livable wage, but they made a living with the tips that they got, because the salary was nothing," says Lyn Hughes, founder of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum.  The porters were expected to pay for their own meals and uniforms and the company required them to pay for the shoe polish used to shine passengers' shoes daily.<ref name=autogenerated2/> There was little job security, and the Pullman Company inspectors were known for suspending porters for trivial reasons.<ref name=autogenerated5 />

==Characterization==
[[File:PullmanPorter.jpg|thumb|left|Pullman porter photographed at [[Chicago Union Station]], 1943]]

According to Larry Tye, who authored ''Rising from the Rails: The Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class'', George Pullman was aware that as former chattel slaves, the men he hired had already received the perfect training and "knew just how to take care of any whim that a customer had". Tye further explained that Pullman was aware that there was never a question that a traveler would be embarrassed by running into one of the porters and having them remember something they had done during their trip that they did not want their wife or husband, perhaps, to know about.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

Black historian and journalist Thomas Fleming began his career as a bellhop and then spent five years as a cook for the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]. Fleming was the co-founder and executive editor of Northern California's largest weekly African-American newspaper, the ''[[Sun-Reporter]]''.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.freepress.org/fleming/flemng00.html| title=Thomas Fleming, the nation's oldest and longest-running black journalist, sparkles on the web| first=Max| last=Millard| newspaper=[[Columbus Free Press]]| date=January 1999| access-date=2024-01-05| archive-date=2023-10-02| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002103405/https://www.freepress.org/fleming/flemng00.html| url-status=live}}</ref> In a weekly series of articles entitled "Reflections on Black History", he wrote of the contradictions in the life of a Pullman porter:

{{blockquote|text=Pullman went on to become the largest single employer of [black people] in America, and the job of Pullman porter was, for most of the 101-year history of the Pullman Company, one of the very best a Black man could aspire to, in status and eventually in pay. The porter reigned supreme on George's sleeper cars. But the very definition of their jobs, of their kingdom, roiled in contradictions. The porter was servant as well as host. He had the best job in his community and the worst on the train. He could be trusted with his white passengers' children and their safety, but only for the five days of a cross-country trip. He shared his riders' most private moments but, to most, remained an enigma if not an enemy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.freepress.org/fleming/fleming.html |title=Reflections on Black History |newspaper=Columbus Free Press |access-date=2013-07-19 |archive-date=2013-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516154007/http://www.freepress.org/fleming/fleming.html |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In 2008, [[Amtrak]] became aware of The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees, a five-year research project conducted by Dr. Lyn Hughes, for the [[A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum]], and published in 2007. Amtrak enlisted the APR Pullman Porter Museum, and partnered with them using the registry to locate and honor surviving Porters through a series of regional ceremonies. Amtrak also attempted to locate additional survivors in order to interview them for a promotional project. A few remaining living former Pullman porters were found, all of whom were in their 90s or over 100 years old at that time. The project coordinator remarked, "Even today, observers are struck by how elegant the elderly men are. When we find them, they are dapper. They are men, even at this age, who wear suits and ties."<ref name="blogspot1">{{cite web |author=Ron |url=http://usslave.blogspot.de/2012/04/pullman-porters.html |title=US Slave: Pullman Porters |publisher=Usslave.blogspot.de |date=2012-04-26 |access-date=2014-02-15 |archive-date=2013-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014182905/http://usslave.blogspot.de/2012/04/pullman-porters.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Unionization==
[[Image:Abraham Lincoln Pullman Car.png|thumb|Abraham Lincoln Pullman sleeper car{{snd}}each car received a name.]]
[[File:Pullman sleeping car circa 1860s.JPG|thumb|[[William Crooks (locomotive)|William Crooks locomotive]] sleeping car, on display in Duluth, Minnesota]]

As early as 1900, Porters started to rally and organize for better wages and treatment. Porters who worked an average of 300-400 hours per month, were paid a fixed monthly wage regardless of hours or length of trips.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Tye |first=Larry |title=Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class |publisher=Henry Holt |year=2005 |location=New York City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5ze8C9C3v8C&q=garrard+wilson |pages=75–112 |isbn=978-0-8050-7850-3}}</ref> They were also subjected to easy dismissal or termination based on minor or false accusations by mainly white passengers. Initial efforts were largely unsuccessful and also increased risk of retributory termination for attempting to unionize.<ref name=":0" />

The [[Order of Sleeping Car Conductors]] was organized on February 20, 1918, in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. Members had to be white males;<ref>{{cite book| pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_iCGWrdBpT_8C/page/n267 252]–253| last=Stewart| first=Estelle May| title=Handbook of American trade-unions: 1936 edition| url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_iCGWrdBpT_8C| access-date=2013-08-07| year=1936| publisher=U. S. Govt. Print. Off. for the United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics}}</ref> because the order did not admit Black people, [[A. Philip Randolph]] began organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.<ref>{{cite web|ref={{harvid|Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters: Windsor Mosaic}}|url=http://www.windsor-communities.com/african-labour-brotherhood.php|title=Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters|work=Windsor Mosaic Website|access-date=2013-08-07|archive-date=2012-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217164059/http://www.windsor-communities.com/african-labour-brotherhood.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Using the motto "Fight or Be Slaves", on August 25, 1925, 500 porters met in Harlem and decided to make an effort to organize. Under Randolph's leadership the first black union, the [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]], was formed and slowly working conditions and salaries improved.

By forming the first black labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Pullman porters also laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement, which began in the 1950s. Union organizer and former Pullman porter [[E. D. Nixon]] played a crucial role in organizing the landmark [[Montgomery bus boycott]] in [[Montgomery, Alabama|Alabama]] in 1955. It was he who bailed [[Rosa Parks]] out of jail after she refused to move on the bus, and who selected her as the figure to build the boycott around.<ref name="blogspot1"/>

By the 1960s, between the decline of the passenger rail system and the cultural shifts in American society, the Pullman porters' contribution became obscured, becoming for some in the African-American community a symbol of subservience to white cultural and economic domination.<ref name=autogenerated1/>

In 1978, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters merged with the larger [[Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Miles of Smiles About Pullman Porters| url=http://www.paulwagnerfilms.com/miles-of-smiles-about-porters/| access-date=2021-08-15| website=Paul Wagner Films| language=en| archive-date=2021-02-13| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213114105/http://www.paulwagnerfilms.com/miles-of-smiles-about-porters/| url-status=live}}</ref>

==Contribution to a black middle class==

The black community looked up to Pullman porters and many people credit them as significant contributors to the development of America's black middle class. Black historian and civil-rights activist [[Timuel Black]] observed in a 2013 interview:

{{blockquote|text=[The Pullman porters] were good looking, clean and immaculate in their dress. Their style was quite manly, their language was carefully crafted, so that they had a sense of intelligence about them. They were good role models for young men ... [B]eing a Pullman porter was a prestigious position because it offered a steady income and an opportunity to travel across the country, which was rare for [black people] at that time.<ref name=autogenerated6>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130807/pullman/pullman-porter-museum-celebrate-50th-anniversary-of-historic-march |title=Pullman Porter Museum to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Historic March |location=Chicago |website=[[DNAinfo]] |date=2013-08-07 |access-date=2014-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225231355/http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130807/pullman/pullman-porter-museum-celebrate-50th-anniversary-of-historic-march |archive-date=2014-02-25}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated2 />}}

In the late 19th century, Pullman porters were among the only people in their communities to travel extensively. Consequently, they became a conduit of new information and ideas from the wider world to their communities. Many Pullman porters supported community projects, including schools, and saved rigorously to ensure that their children were able to obtain an education and thus better employment. Supreme Court Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] and former San Francisco Mayor [[Willie Brown (politician)|Willie Brown]] were descendants of Pullman porters.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> Marshall was also a porter himself, as were [[Malcolm X]] and the photojournalist [[Gordon Parks]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Harry Bruinius |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2008/0229/p20s01-ussc.html |title=Pullman porters tell tales of a train ride through history |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=2008-02-29 |access-date=2014-02-15 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222172358/http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2008/0229/p20s01-ussc.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Berkeley, California Councilman, U.S. Congressman, and Oakland, California Mayor Ron Dellums was also a descendant of Pullman porters. His father was Verney Dellums, a Pullman porter and a longshoreman. His uncle, C.L. Dellums, was a leader in the Brotherhood of Pullman Car Porters union. Ron Dellums served fourteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives. <ref>{{cite web |date=2023-04-23 |title=DELLUMS, Ronald V. |url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12109 |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=U.S. House of Representatives |archive-date=2023-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423063207/https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12109 |url-status=live }},</ref>

==A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum==
[[File:Randolph Museum.jpg|thumb|A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, Chicago]]
{{Further|Pullman District}}
In 1995, Lyn Hughes founded the '''A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum''' to celebrate both the life of [[A. Philip Randolph]] and the role of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and other African-Americans in the U.S. [[labor movement]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com/index.html
 |access-date  = 2009-03-09
 |title       = A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20080515111206/http://aphiliprandolphmuseum.com/index.html
 |archive-date = 2008-05-15
}}</ref> Located in [[South Side, Chicago]] and housed in one of [[Pullman, Chicago|the original rowhouses built by George Pullman]] to house workers,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/10686295-418/pullman-porters-stories-kept-alive.html| first=Maudlyne| last=Ihejirika| date=February 16, 2012| newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| title=Museum chronicles African-American labor movement| access-date=2023-02-16| archive-date=2012-03-21| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321170921/http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/10686295-418/pullman-porters-stories-kept-alive.html| url-status=live}}</ref> it is part of the [[U.S. Department of the Interior]]'s Pullman [[National Historic Landmark District]]. The museum houses a collection of artifacts and documents related to the [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encore.org/lyn-hughes |title=Lyn Hughes |website=Encore.org |access-date=2014-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235742/http://www.encore.org/lyn-hughes |archive-date=2013-12-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://abc7chicago.com/archive/8551978/ |title=Pullman Porter Museum |website=[[WLS-TV|ABC7 Chicago]] |access-date=2023-02-16 |archive-date=2014-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329184200/http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?id=8551978 |url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, in 2001, the museum began compiling a national registry of black railroad employees who worked for the railroad from the late 1800s to 1969.<ref name="blogspot1" /><ref>{{cite book| url=http://outskirtspress.com/lynhughes| title=An Anthology Of Respect: The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry Of African American Railroad Employees| first=Lyn| last=Hughes| publisher=Hughes-Peterson| date=September 19, 2007| isbn=978-0-9793-9411-9| access-date=2023-02-16| archive-date=2023-08-15| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230815203632/https://outskirtspress.com/lynhughes| url-status=live}}</ref>

On March 29, 2025, the museum broke ground at an adjacent rowhouse for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Ladies Auxiliary Women’s History Museum.  It recognizes the efforts of women such as [[Rosina Tucker|Rosina Corrothers Tucker]], the wife of a porter, who was able to organize for the union more freely than the porters themselves.  She founded and became president of the Brotherhood’s International Ladies’ Auxiliary Order, also known as the Women’s Economic Councils.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DeGrane |first=Susan |date=2025-04-03 |title=New museum in Pullman to recognize role of Black women in labor movement |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/03/pullman-labor-movement-women-museum/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref> 

==Recognition==

In 2008, Amtrak, in partnership with the A. Philip Randolph Museum, honored Pullman porters in Chicago. Museum founder Lyn Hughes spoke at the event saying, "It's significant when an organization like Amtrak takes the time to honor those who contributed directly to its own history. It's also very appropriate as it's the culmination of the effort to create the Pullman Porter Registry. We started the Registry with Amtrak and now we're coming full circle with its completion and the honoring of these great African American men." Hughes is also author of ''An Anthology of Respect: The Pullman Porter National Historic Registry''.<ref>{{cite web| title=Amtrak Celebrates National Train Day with Ceremony Honoring Pullman Porters in Chicago| url=http://cruiselinehistory.com/amtrak-celebrates-national-train-day-with-ceremony-honoring-pullman-porters-in-chicago/| website=Cruising the Past| access-date=March 14, 2018| first=Michael L.| last=Grace| date=May 10, 2008| archive-date=July 15, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715130021/https://www.cruiselinehistory.com/amtrak-celebrates-national-train-day-with-ceremony-honoring-pullman-porters-in-chicago/| url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009, as part of [[Black History Month]], [[Amtrak]] honored Pullman porters in Oakland, California. An [[AARP]] journalist writes, "They were dignified men who did undignified labor. They made beds and cleaned toilets. They shined shoes, dusted jackets, cooked meals and washed dishes in cramped and rolling quarters."<ref>{{cite web| last1=Zielenziger| first1=Michael| date=February 13, 2009| title=Pullman Porters Take Their Place in History| url=https://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/life-stories/info-02-2009/pullman_porters_take_their_place_in_history.html| website=AARP Bulletin| access-date=March 13, 2018| archive-date=March 14, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314044112/https://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/life-stories/info-02-2009/pullman_porters_take_their_place_in_history.html| url-status=live}}</ref> Amtrak invited five retired members of The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to speak at the event. The eldest of the five, Lee Gibson,<ref>{{cite news| last1=Lowe| first1=Frederick| title=Oldest Pullman Porter dies in Los Angeles| url=http://www.northstarnewstoday.com/news/oldest-pullman-porter-dies/|website=BlackMansStreetToday| access-date=March 14, 2018| archive-date=March 15, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315004129/http://www.northstarnewstoday.com/news/oldest-pullman-porter-dies/| url-status=dead}}</ref> age 98, spoke of his journey to the event (by rail) saying, "It was nice. I got the service I used to give." He spoke of his years as porter with fondness saying, It was a wonderful life."<ref>{{cite web| title=The Oakland Tribune tells the story of Pullman Porters. These gracious and hard working men paved the way for the African-American middle class and provided first class professional service aboard the largest hotel system ever created on wheels| first=Michael| last=Grace| date=February 11, 2009| url=http://cruiselinehistory.com/cruising-the-past-pullman-porters-road-to-success-on-rolling-hotels/| website=Cruising the Past| access-date=February 16, 2023| archive-date=March 16, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316112953/http://cruiselinehistory.com/cruising-the-past-pullman-porters-road-to-success-on-rolling-hotels/| url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2009 [[Philadelphia]] honored about 20 of the 200 former Pullman employees who were still alive at that time as part of National Train Day. Speaking to [[Michele Norris]] of [[NPR]], former cook and porter Frank Rollins, 93, said "the railway wanted Southern boys to run the dining cars because 'they thought they had a certain personality and a certain demeanor that satisfied the Southern passengers better than the boys who came from Chicago.'" Rollins also spoke of the racist comments that black men experienced but commented on positive experiences as well. He recalled, "I used to have a little speech that I'd make. I would walk into the car, and I would say, 'May I have your attention please. My name is Frank Rollins. If you can't remember that, that's OK. You can call me porter{{Snd}}it's right here on the cap, you can be able to remember that. Just don't call me 'boy' and don't call me George.{{' "}}<ref>{{cite episode| title=Former Pullman Porter Subtly Confronted Racism| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103945861| series=All Things Considered| network=NPR| access-date=March 13, 2018| archive-date=March 14, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314043128/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103945861| url-status=live}}</ref>

In August 2013, the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum celebrated the 50 year anniversary of the historic [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]] (also known as "The Great March on Washington"), one of the largest [[Demonstration (people)|political rallies]] for human rights in United States history.<ref name=program>{{cite web| website=National Archives and Records Administration: Bayard Rustin Papers| title=March on Washington (Program)| access-date=2013-05-21| date=1963-08-28| url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=96| archive-date=2018-07-06| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706142119/https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true| url-status=live}}</ref> Interviewed in a neighborhood newspaper, founder Lyn Hughes suggested that some people in the Chicago area may prefer to celebrate the anniversary of the march in their own community rather than travel to Washington. She added that many people are unaware that Asa Philip Randolph was the initial activist who inspired the [[March on Washington Movement]].<ref name="autogenerated6"/><ref>{{cite web| url=http://aprppmprogramsandnews.org/programsandevents.html| website=A. Philip Randolph Museum| title=Programs and Events| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329100615/http://aprppmprogramsandnews.org/programsandevents.html| archive-date=2014-03-29}}<!-- Bot generated title --></ref> Scheduled activities included speakers and screenings of films related to black labor history. Two organizers said that two former Pullman porters, Milton Jones<ref>{{cite news| title=Milton William Jones, 98, one of last Pullman porters| date=February 27, 2014|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times| url=http://article.wn.com/view/2014/02/27/Milton_William_Jones_98_one_of_last_Pullman_porters/| access-date=March 29, 2014| archive-date=March 29, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329171238/http://article.wn.com/view/2014/02/27/Milton_William_Jones_98_one_of_last_Pullman_porters/| url-status=live}}</ref> (age 98) and Benjamin Gaines<ref>{{cite book| chapter=Southern Registrant ID: 1359, Benjamin Franklin Gaines, City/State: Evanston, IL, Position: Club car| publisher=Hughes-Peterson Publishing| title=An Anthology of Respect: The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees| first=Lyn| last=Hughes| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zgdAQAAMAAJ&q=registry+of+sleeping+car+porters,+benjamin+gaines| year=2007| isbn=978-0-9793-9411-9| access-date=2016-02-23| archive-date=2024-01-05| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105024020/https://books.google.com/books?id=0zgdAQAAMAAJ&q=registry+of+sleeping+car+porters,+benjamin+gaines| url-status=live}}</ref> (age 90), were expected to attend.<ref name=autogenerated6 />

==Notable Pullman porters==
* [[Big Bill Broonzy]]
* [[Nat Love]]
* [[Oscar Micheaux]]
* [[E. D. Nixon]]
* Mancel Warrick, father of [[Dionne Warwick]]

==See also==
* ''[[10,000 Black Men Named George]]'' (2002) Movie
* [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]]{{snd}}The first African-American trade union
* [[Gandy dancer]]
* ''[[Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle]]'' (1982){{snd}}A documentary about the organization of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
* [[Pullman Company]]
* [[Pullman loaf]]{{snd}}A type of long, square bread developed to be baked in the small kitchens of rail cars
* [[Pullman Strike]]
* [[Pullman train (UK)]]
* [[Sleeping car]]
* ''[[The Road Taken]]'' (1996){{snd}}A documentary about Black railway porters in Canada
* ''[[The Porter (TV series)|The Porter]]'' (2022){{snd}}A [[CBC Television|CBC]] television series which depicts the history of Black Canadian and African-American men who worked as Pullman porters, as well as the creation of the [[Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
{{Commons category|Pullman porters}}
* [https://aprpullmanportermuseum.org/ A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050330200926/http://www.csrmf.org/doc.asp?id=280 A. Philip Randolph / Sleeping Car Porters]
* [http://www.pullman-car.com The ''Abraham Lincoln'' 1910 Heavyweight Pullman Business Car]
* [https://americanhistory.si.edu/america-on-the-move/lives-railroad Pullman Porter{{snd}}Lives on the Railroad]
* [http://publications.newberry.org/pullman/ Pullman: Labor, Race, and the Urban Landscape in a Company Town]{{snd}}online exhibition by the [[Newberry Library]] of documents relating to the Pullman Company's industrial relations, including porters' working conditions and grievances

[[Category:Passenger rail transportation in the United States]]
[[Category:African-American history between emancipation and the civil rights movement]]
[[Category:Pullman Company]]
[[Category:Railway occupations]]
[[Category:Obsolete occupations]]