The Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters And Maids Changed America Forever! (by Johnny Coleman II)

 [Portions of this article were originally published in 2017]

"At the banquet table of nature there are no reserved seats...And you can’t take anything without organization.”---A. Philip Randolph

Asa Philip Randolph
Credit: Public Domain

Sculpture of Mr. Randolph
in Union Station in Washington, DC
Credit: Public Domain

The late A. Philip Randolph said the Civil Rights Movement should be called the "Civil Rights Revolution."  He is the founding president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids, a labor union, also known as Pullman Porters.  Mr. Randolph was also the mastermind of the famous March on Washington in 1941 and again in 1963.  The second march on August 28, 1963 is the same event where the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  Today in Washington, DC within Union Station near Capitol Hill is an impressive statue to the memory of A. Philip Randolph.  There is another also in the Back Bay train station, in the Boston community of Back Bay.

THE PULLMAN PORTERS

George Pullman was a railroad car manufacturer.  A man of European ancestry, Pullman's corporation intentionally hired African Americans as  porters and maids on his new line of sleeper cars because of their ability to provide the best customer service.  However, Mr. Pullman was resistant to workers unionizing.  

African Americans in most industries were not allowed to join organized unions due to racial segregation.  They also faced other other injustices after being hired. The railroad was a battlefield during the "Civil Rights Revolution."  Despite being rejected for what they looked like they reminded America of its principles of liberty and justice for all.  Through many hardships and threats a labor union was created to organize African American railroad workers.   

RAILROAD LEGACY

In their time the members of the Brotherhood Of Sleeping Car Porters And Maids were highly respected within their community for being well read, stock market investors and well traveled.    To remember this great history an organization was created, Railroad Generations.  

Railroad Generations will soon to be the largest social organization for African American transportation workers, their families and friends.  I was invited to work with them because of my past work in ethnic marketing and tourism.  I was shocked to learn that many people throughout the world have a Pullman Porter railroad story.

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS

Photo of Isabella Wilkerson
Credit: Random House Publishers

"The Warmth of Other Suns" written by award winning author Isabelle Wilkerson is another great contribution to remembering the history.  The book is a great read and was chosen as recommended reading by Railroad Generations.  

The book tells the lives of African Americans during the time of what many now call 'The Great Migration,' the time during Segregation when many fled north to escape injustices.  The book shows how important the railroad was for African American families in moving from towns filled with violence, hatred, racism and abuses.  If you read one chapter of this book, you will not be sorry!

FROM SUPERMAN TO MAN

Book cover
"From Superman to Man"

The Pullman porters and their effect on the American people started in a book much earlier.  In 1917 the book "From Superman to Man" by anthropologist J.A. Rogers was that book.

The book description states: "Joel Augustus Roger's seminal work, this novel first published in 1917 is a polemic against the ignorance that fuels racism. The central plot revolves around a debate between a Pullman porter and a white racist Southern politician."  

The book is a fictional conversation between a sleeping car porter and a high ranking U.S. politician discussing real issues in race, history and politics.  It quickly earned respect worldwide for the hard work of African American women and men on the railroad.  Another and detailed description was done by Amazon.

The Amazon Book Review says: "A fearless and penetrating discussion of America’s Greatest Problem The most debated points of the race question as the relative mentality, physical and facial beauty, sex instinct, chastity, odor, truthfulness, health, honesty, of negro and Caucasian; as well as politics, the slavery of white people in Colonial America and elsewhere, intermarriage, religion ancient Negro civilization, race attraction and repulsion, lynching and other aspects all scientifically dealt with in an interesting argument between a southern United Sates Senator with pronounced views and a polished, well-educated, universally traveled Negro when the two happen to meet under peculiar circumstances."

The Black Past website says: "Rogers died in 1966 and in his lifetime he belonged to the Paris (France) Society for Anthropology, American Geographical Society, and the Academy of Political Science.  He was multilingual, mastering German, Italian, French, and Spanish. He had no formal education."

Photo of J.A. Rogers.
Credit: Public Domain

The battle for justice in the USA was often done in the arena of transportation, whether it was Rosa Parks and buses, or the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids and the railroad.  Their voices changed America forever!