And despite their contributions and importance, through 1925, they still were wildly overworked, underpaid, and frozen out of the established labor unions. Black employees were not allowed to live in Pullman’s company town, living primarily in Chicago’s Bronzeville. They also served as a crucial pipeline of information on jobs and housing for Black communities across America living under Jim Crow segregation laws.Īnd while their ranks would eventually include Thurgood Marshall and Malcolm X, they too were under the thumb of segregation. As part of the emerging African American middle class, they were symbols of economic stability and opportunities for Black families. Pullman initially recruited newly-freed slaves from the south to provide “elite service” as attendants and cooks.

The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Portersįor a century, the porters of Pullman’s Palace Cars traveled the country by rail.

What happened next established a path for an entire movement. Recognizing their dignity and collective power, they traveled from Chicago to Harlem to meet with a magazine publisher and labor activist. Still working over 20 hours a day for the worst pay after initial labor reform, the African American porters were excluded by workers’ unions. Far from incidental, the designation acknowledges America’s first company-created community and honors the role of all Pullman rail employees in America’s labor movement.īut it is the Pullman Porters that beckon history’s spotlight. On February 19, 2015, President Barack Obama designated national monument status to the Pullman Historic District, making it the first national park service in Chicago.

What started the civil rights movement