Porters: the Unsung Heroes of Rail Travel

Porters: the Unsung Heroes of Rail Travel. . , Porters: the Unsung Heroes of Rail Travel , During the glamorous age of rail travel, railroads employed porters to greet passengers, carry baggage, make beds, serve food and drinks, shine shoes, and tidy the railcars. They were expected to be available day and night and to always smile., Sleeping cars for rail passengers first appeared in 1839. However, it was George Pullman and his Pullman cars that made sleeping cars profitable, operating from 1862 until 1968. He began hiring porters in 1868., Black Middle Class with an Expanded Social Network , The Pullman Company recruited many formerly enslaved people to be porters, because they would work long hours for little money. Pullman was the largest employer of Black workers, with 20,224 on staff by the 1920s., Despite the racism of Pullman's practices, the job as a porter offered Black workers opportunities that were not available elsewhere. Porters helped establish a Black middle class in America. While they were subject to discrimination both on the job and off, the job gave them the opportunity to travel, to trade news and culture, and to share their experiences with their communities., (captions) In 1926, a Pullman Porter (mostly Black staff) worked 400 hours or 11,000 miles per month and earned $72.50, plus tips., By contrast, Pullman Conductors (whites only) worked 250 hours per month and earned $150., Thurgood Marshall Porters invested in education for themselves and their families as exemplified by Thurgood Marshall, the son of a Pullman waiter. While a student at Howard University Law School, he worked as a porter, earning $50 a month. Marshall, the Supreme Court's first African American justice, served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 until 1991., The Railroad and Berkleytown Neighbors , Berkleytown developed in 1894 a few blocks north of here and became a thriving Black community of homes and businesses by the 1920s., Branch M. Thompson (1904-1973) and his family lived on Henry Street. He and his father, Robert Thompson, worked as porters on the RF&P. The 1940 census records Branch Thompson having an annual salary of $1,080 as a porter. He retired after 40 years., A.W. Jackson and his family lived on Henry Street at the same time. The 1940 census records him with an annual salary of $1,040 as a railroad porter., Mildred and John Coleman operated Coleman's Hotel on Henry Street in Berkleytown. Until desegregation, it was the only hotel for Black travelers., (captions) Looking south, the Ashland train station in the 1930s. , Branch Thompson, "Fight or Be Slaves" , In pursuit of fair wages and working conditions, Black sleeping car porters founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) in 1925. A. Philip Randolph led the BSCP, the country's first predominately African American labor union. Its work under the slogan "Fight or Be Slaves" proved valuable not only for porters, but also in the civil rights movement., (captions) A. Philip Randolph , Pullman Maids faced similar racism on the job and became instrumental in the creation of the BSCP.