Decrow; Track Record; Porters Paved the Way for the Black American Dream

Summary

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Besides passengers, also aboard were the Pullman porters. George Pullman employed former Civil War slaves to work on his luxurious overnight trains. Pullman believed these men would be more servile and could work longer hours, so he hired thousands of African-Americans. From the 1860s to the 1960s, the Pullman Company was the largest employer of black men.

The company's history is examined in author Larry Tye's thoroughly researched Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class (Henry Holt and Company, 2004). Tye interviewed more than 40 porters, and many more of their survivors. He writes, "If race is the story of America, the Pullman porters represent one of its most resonant chapters."

[Elaine Jones] is the great-granddaughter of a slave, and her father toiled on the sleeping cars to put his three children through the finest schools. "All he expected in return" she told Tye, "was that we had a duty to succeed and give back. Dad said, 'I'm doing this so they can change things.' He won through us."

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Decrow; Track Record; Porters Paved the Way for the Black American Dream

Today's small cities are losing railroad service all across America. But during much of the 19th and 20th centuries, train travel was considered high adventure, a way to broaden one's horizons and the epitome of glamour...

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