CHICAGO—The National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum recently celebrated 100 years of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and 30 years of the Pullman Porter Museum.
The celebration included a series of events and culminated with an event honoring former porter and pioneering Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, during a historic film screening and reception held on August 25.
According to history.com, shortly after the Civil War, a Chicago businessman named George M. Pullman began hiring thousands of Black men—including many former slaves—to serve White passengers traveling across the country on his company’s luxury railroad sleeping cars.
The vast majority of the porters were Black, and they endured racism, harsh working conditions, and were underpaid and overworked, but they fought for their rights, eventually forming a union. They helped to “fuel the Great Migration, shape a new Black middle class and launch the civil rights movement,” noted history.com.
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded in 1925 and was the first Black labor union in the U.S. to be chartered under the American Federation of Labor (AFL).
The Brotherhood was organized and co-founded by civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph and other porters. Some notable Pullman Porters included explorer Matthew Henson, and the father of Thurgood Marshall, the country’s first Black Supreme Court Justice.
The National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum was founded in 1995 by Dr. Lyn Hughes in Chicago. It is located at 10406 S. Maryland Avenue. Shortly before opening the museum, she had just moved to the city from Cincinnati and was researching the Pullman community.
“I went to the nearest library and asked the librarian for books regarding Black people in Pullman. The librarian handed two books to me, and the page volume was so thin, I thought they were children’s books.
I checked them out, one of the books was called ‘A Long Hard Journey,’ and I went home and read the book, and found myself weeping after I read the book.
Reading the story of the pain and struggle of these men, and the pain I felt for these men, I could not shake it,” she told The Final Call. That is when she decided to work to open a museum dedicated to the Pullman Porters.
“I was just committed and so after I bought a couple of buildings, I decided that I was going to create a museum to honor those men. I knew nothing about museums, and I didn’t know anyone who had a museum, but I just knew that I had to open this museum,” she said.
Additional events celebrating the 30-year anniversary of the museum were held Aug. 7-10, leading up to the Aug. 25 reception.
The 1920 Oscar Micheaux film called “Within Our Gates” was screened. The silent film highlighted race relations between Black and White people and other themes.
The film screening and reception were held outside due to the museum currently being under renovation.
Guests of the event, some of whom were descendants of Pullman Porters, enjoyed the honor and tribute to these pioneering Black men.
“I am glad to be here for the anniversary of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. It is such an important story. The Pullman Porters led to the development of the Black middle class,” said filmmaker and historian Pemon Rami.
Irma Scott attended the reception and is the descendant of a Pullman Porter named John Scott. “I am donating some family history to contribute to the museum. I am happy that the museum is here and growing,” she said. For more information, visit: aprpullmanportermuseum.org.
(Shawntell Muhammad can be contacted at [email protected].)