Pullman porter

For the film, see The Pullman Porter.
A Pullman porter assisting a passenger with her luggage

Pullman porters were men hired to work for the railroads as porters on sleeping cars.[1] 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Company also operated sleeping cars in Mexico from the 1880s until November 13, 1970.[2] The term "porter" has been superseded in modern American usage by "sleeping car attendant", with the former term being considered "somewhat derogatory".[3]

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 in America. 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 in overall charge of the train), who was invariably white.[4] The Pullman Company employed Mexican men as porters in Mexico.[5]

In addition to sleeping cars, Pullman also provided parlor cars and dining cars 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:[6] "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."[7] A small number of Asian Americans worked in Pullman dining cars following the 1950s.[5]

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.[8] 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 well into the 1950s.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ "Pullman Porters Helped Build Black Middle Class". All Things Considered. May 7, 2009. NPR. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Pullman Notes and Timeline". utahrails.net. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  3. ^ "Service and Grace amid a Class Struggle: The Story of the Pullman Porter". Museum of the American Railroad. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  4. ^ Powe, Jr., Lucas A. (2018). America's Lone Star Constitution: How Supreme Court Cases from Texas Shape the Nation. Oakland: University of California Press. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-5202-9781-4. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b Spero, Sterling D.; Harris, Abram L. (2019-05-06), 20. The Pullman Porters, Columbia University Press, pp. 430–460, doi:10.7312/sper93144-021, ISBN 978-0-231-89223-0, retrieved 2024-04-02
  6. ^ Porterfield, James D. (1993). Dining By Rail: The History and Recipes of America's Golden Age of Railroad Cuisine. New York City: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-3121-8711-8. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  7. ^ Quinzio, Jeri (2014). Food on the Rails: The Golden Era of Railroad Dining. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4422-2733-0. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  8. ^ Chateauvert, Melinda (1998). Marching Together: Women of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. pp. 22–27. ISBN 978-0-2520-2340-8. Retrieved 16 February 2023. Maids worked on the "deluxe" and limited runs...
  9. ^ Tye, Larry. "Pullman Porters, Creating A Black Middle Class". Fresh Air. NPR. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  10. ^ Cavanaugh, Maureen; Finn, Pat (23 March 2010). "The African-American Railroad Experience". KPBS News. Archived from the original on 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).