Bottom Row, left to right: James R. Allen, Chauncey P. Reeves, Wallace Tucker, Shelby L. Coco, A. A. Anderson. Second Row from bottom: J. Smith, George Fisher, Edward Dejan, H. Smith. Third Row: Oscar LeBlanc, Edward G. Gardener, Ulysses Short, A. Anderson, Overton Hollins, C. Johnson, Benjamin H. Snype, Samuel D. Byrd. Fourth Row: C. Small, Mingo R. Johnson, Herbert W. Levy, Frank Hatch, James Colon, Charles C. Brown.

On the evening of Sunday, 19 May 1940, one hundred Pullman Porters and their families, totaling three hundred people, gathered in Holy Ghost Church on Louisiana Avenue to celebrate the nineteenth annual “Thanksgiving and Memorial Day” of the Pullman Porters Benevolent Association of America. The annual observance, which was staged in each Pullman district annually on the third Sunday of May, was quite somber and impressive, with the casting of roses and extinguishing of candles as the roll of deceased porters was solemnly read. In deference to Mr. Wallace Tucker, the district’s oldest active porter, the memorial service was held in his church, marking the first time the annual observance was held in a Catholic church.

For just over a century, from the creation of the “Pullman Car” at the close of the Civil War until the closing of the company in 1968, the hallmark of the Pullman Car Company was the attentiveness, skill, and reliability of the thousands of men who worked as Pullman Porters. Commenting upon the impact of the porters The Louisiana Weekly averred: “Long ago, the Pullman Porters gave this country the impression that they were among the most congenial and intelligent employees in American service, knocking into oblivion the conception of prejudiced writers that they were submissive to the core. A finer group of men cannot be seen anywhere than Pullman Porters, whose appearances and manliness are always as striking as the scenes they traverse; they are among the best-dressed and well-liked.”

The Pullman Porters Benevolent Association of America was founded as a ‘company union’ in 1915 with Arthur A. Wells, George Pullman’s private care attendant, as its first chairman. Initially offering only death benefits by 1921, it offered sickness insurance as well as an array of ceremonial and social activities – including baseball games, concerts, barbecues, and annual trips across the country. The Pullman Porters Benefit Association was very much a ‘company union,’ supported and influenced for Pullman officials and it lost most of its momentum in 1935. In June 1934, legislation was passed which amended the Railroad Emergency Act of 1933 allowing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, an independent labor organization, to vie for recognition as the official collective bargaining agency for the Pullman Porters. The National Mediation Board ordered an election from May 27^th to June 27^th 1935 as to the preference of the Pullman Porters. Of a total of 8,316 votes, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters received 5,931 and the Benefit Association only 1,422. The Benefit Association was only able to receive a majority of the votes in three cities: Louisville, Memphis, and Atlanta. By 1940, however, the Benefit Association still had a national membership of over 5,000 and was regarded as one of the most important Negro organizations in the country.

The Memorial Mass in Holy Ghost Church featured a masterful sermon by Father Anthony J. Hackett, C.S.Sp., and a solo rendered by Miss Maceola White, the daughter of Mr. Joseph A. White. Following the Mass, the Association’s annual business and social session was held around the corner in Holy Ghost Hall. Mr. Ulysses Short, Porter Instructor and Chairman of the Sick Committee, served as master of ceremonies for the occasion. The program was opened by Mr. A. Anderson, Chairman of the local Association. The welcome address was rendered by little Miss Juanita Lear, who “stopped the show.” Acknowledgements were made by the many officials of the Pullman Company who were present and letters were read by company and Association officials from Chicago. Mr. Anderson gave a brief history of the organization and the Secretary, Mr. James R. Allen, reported on the financial affairs of the local district. A highlight of the program was the introduction of retired Porters: Rev. Honoré D. Mouton, Joseph Lewis, and Edward G. Gardener, one of the Association’s founders. Mr. Wallace Tucker was specially honored as the oldest active Porter in the district.

During Jim Crow segregation, the Pullman Porters defied stereotypes as to the indolence and incompetence of black Americans. They earned stable incomes, had opportunities to travel the country, work which was free of heavy physical labor, and a chance to gain the practical education which familiarity with the various sections of the country afforded. Chicago educator and historian Timuel Black succinctly summed up the dignity embodied by the Pullman Porters: “[The Pullman porters] were good looking, clean and immaculate in their dress. Their style was quite manly; their language was carefully crafted, so that they had a sense of intelligence about them. They were good role models for young men.”

Sources: “Pullman Porters’ 19^th Annual Memorial Services Impressive,” The Louisiana Weekly, 25 May 1940, page 4; Berman, Edward. (1935, August 21). The Pullman Porters win. The Nation. Retrieved from http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/brotherhood-of-sleeping-car-porters-win-over-pullman-company/; Tye, Larry. Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class (Henry Holt & Co: 2005), page 106.

Jari Honora

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