Pullman 1894 Strike Memorial Rose & Herb Garden

Pullman 1894 Strike Memorial Rose and Herb Garden. . , The town of Pullman was one of the first and most important planned industrial communities in America. George Mortimer Pullman believed that beautiful surroundings would have "a refining influence" on workers. He directed architect Solon Spencer Beman, and landscape architect Nathan Franklin Barrett to design everything in the town with an eye toward efficiency and beauty. Pullman believed, "With such surroundings and such regard for the needs of the body as well as the soul...the disturbing conditions of strikes and other troubles that periodically convulse the world of labor would not need to be feared here.", The town of Pullman was widely acclaimed and generally thrived until the nation-wide depression of 1893. Although the Pullman Palace Car Company accepted contracts at a loss in order to keep as many workers employed as possible, one third of the workforce was laid off. Of those workers who remained, their wages were slashed by an average of thirty percent. However, the rents charged by the company for housing remained the same. Consequently, many workers quickly fell in debt to the company. In a meeting with company officials, a delegation of workers, members of the fledgling American Railway Union, raised their concerns regarding the low wages and high rents. Pullman refused to negotiate on either front. Members of the delegation reported to work the next day and were told that there was no work available. On the morning of May 11, 1894, Pullman workers walked off the job., With Pullman refusing to negotiate with the strikers and the majority of Pullman families in dire straits, another delegation was sent to the national convention of the American Railway Union. In particular, Rev. William Carwardine of the Pullman Methodist Church and 19-year old Jenny Curtis, a company seamstress, convinced delegates to the convention to support a boycott of all Pullman cars, in spite of the reservations of union president Eugene Debs. The American Railway Union boycott began on June 26, and quickly spread nation-wide. On July 2, Attorney General Richard Olney, a former railroad attorney, obtained a restraining order on all actions that would impede the movement of the mail. This restraining order effectively made the boycott illegal, as nearly all trains of the time included mail cars., To stave off potential backlash against the restraining order, President Grover Cleveland sent federal troops to Chicago. Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld, at the request of Chicago mayor John Patrick Hopkins, sent Illinois militia troops to Pullman. The militia bivouacked on the southeast lawn of the Hotel Florence, now the site of the rose and herb garden. Although no violence occurred in Pullman, much did occur throughout the country, eventually turning the press and public opinion against the American Railway Union., spent six months in prison. The boycott never officially ended, but died out within a few months. Most strikers quit the union. Many were re-hired after signing affidavits that they would remain non-union. Leaders of the strike and boycott were blacklisted. The company never attempted to collect unpaid rents., George Pullman saved his company from ruin, but received widely conflicting reviews for his hard-line stance against the strikers. He died on October 19, 1897, and was buried in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery. In 1898, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered the Pullman Palace Car Company to divest itself of all non-industrial property, including the housing stock. This ruling, along with subsequent shifts in company policy, effectively brought to an end Pullman's vision for a model industrial community., Pullman residents planted the Rose garden in the early 1980's. Having fallen into decline, the garden was restored beginning in 1998. The roses planted in the interior beds are varieties developed during the life span of George Pullman, 1831-1897. On June 28, 2000, the garden was dedicated to commemorate the strike of 1894, one of the watershed events in Pullman and the history of labor in America., Restoration Contributors: The Keebler Company.Art Smith.Arnie Anderson.Arcade Park Garden Club.Jan and Larry Bailey.Elizabeth Baird.Edward Beyer.Kate Chappell.Billie and George Chiagouris.Denise L. Cowan.Arlene Echols and Roderick Lewis.Lisa A. Everett.Dee Dee Fabris.Fred Fallin.Mackenzie M. Flynn.Suzanne J. Flynn.Linda and John Feutz.Gay and Lesbian Association of Pullman.Bruna and Jack Gaggini.William C. Helberg.Historic Pullman Foundation.Carol E. Kees.Judith Kubida and Benjamin Kocolowski and Julia Melnyk.Irene Hertle.Barbara and Al Hudson.Beverly and Earl Johnson.Mary L. Knapp.Bruce Lange.Kenneth A. Lesak.Carol and Jim Lett.Joan D. Mahon.Jane and James McDonough.Ruth E. Miller.Melinda Moore.Julia Nichele.Frank O Block.Arthur Pearson.Deborah J. Pearson.Hannah B. Pearson.Lauretta M. Pearson.Mary and Art Pearson, Sr..Emma Pigato.Marge and George Ryan.Lynn A. Smith.Mary Staunton.The Swinea Family.Kris Thomsen.Tina, Jaimie and Myles Trinidad-Bulla.P.K. Vander Beke.Carol Vining.Patricia Vogt.Josephene Wesolowski.Nancy L. Zalane.Norma and Tom Zarris.Constance Zarris-Booz, In Memoriam: Ralph Antoniazzi.Opal Cummings.John E. Chappell.Bruno DeNardi.Shirley Hastings.John D. Johnson.(unreadable) Larson.Carl Emil Pearson.Eddie Silagyi.Reno P. Zenere, Design and Layout by Tina Trinidad-Bulla , Sign Construction by Gordon Hirsig and Arthur Pearson