Historic Registry Honoring the Legacy of Organized Labor and Civil Right Pioneers Just Published
Chicago, IL, October 03, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Long Awaited Historic Registry honoring the legacy of Pullman Porters, organized labor and civil rights pioneers, published. The book An Anthology of Respect: The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees with more than 3000 entries, is a tribute to the noble men and women, who from the year 1867 to 1969, worked as Pullman Porters, maids, and railroad personnel. It was as a result of their incredible courage and perseverance that the first African American labor union was formed. Known as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, it marked the beginning of a whole new era of race relations in America.
After the end of the Civil War, when Chicago industrialist and inventor George Pullman conceived the idea of the Pullman Car, well-mannered and educated former slaves were hired and trained to be Pullman Porters to service wealthy train travelers. The pay was poor, the hours grueling, and the working conditions appalling, but many of the initial workers viewed it as an opportunity to move away from agrarian labor and expand their horizons.
Year after year, a sense of teamwork, pride, and unity developed among the employees, and, as author Lyn Hughes states, they created “a self-imposed standard of excellence, which was to “set the standard for the hospitality industry.” Between the Twenties and the Thirties, there were as many as 20,000 black Pullman porters, maids and ding Car Waiters and other railroad personnel. “Adorned in their distinguished Pullman blue uniforms with a brass ‘Pullman’ emblem on his cap, African Americans registered their employment into more of a sign of internal dignity than company ownership over labor.”
By the turn of the 20th century, Pullman workers sought to make changes to their unfair working conditions, but it would take until 1925 for any real progress to take place. This came about with the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American union to be formed as a result of arbitration with an American corporation under the auspices of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and as a result of the strength of A. Philip Randolph, a leader in the area of civil rights.
Beginning with the preface written by renowned historian Lerone Bennett Jr. and poet Nikki Giovanni’s Train Rides, An Anthology of Respect pulls readers into learning and reliving a history that is vital and compelling, but most of all, deserves to be told. As Lyn Hughes wrote in here original poem Who Were They: “They were our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles and cousins. Quite simply men … concentrating on how to provide for their families. They were ordinary men who unknowingly were doing an extraordinary thing. Making history. For that they deserved to be honored.”
Author Lyn Hughes is a cultural activist-scholar and founder of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. She began the project of creating this historic registry in 2000, for the purpose of bringing to light not only the personal stories of the Pullman Porters but to illuminate the effect that these incredible men and women had on African-American history.
For more information or to contact the author, visit www.outskirtspress.com/lynhughes
Readers will discover some of the most prominent and recognizable names in America’s political, entertainment, and business arenas appear in the book as either former employees, like Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court justice, Gordon Parks, internationally renowned photographer, author J.A. Rogers Benjamin, Elijah Mays, and Malcolm X , were all former Pullman Porters and Dining Car Waiters. There are also descendants whose names are instantly recognized like; Chicago’s Warner Saunders, NBC 5 News anchor, Tom Bradley, who became the second African-American mayor of a major U.S. city, Los Angeles. Willie Lewis Brown Jr. the first African-American mayor of San Francisco, Media mogul Tom Joyner, and Whoopi Goldberg, all distinguished descendants of Pullman Porters.
The book is available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, outskirtspress.com and selected local book Stores. 10% percent of all books sales will go to Autism One, a charity organization, which helps children with autism, recover.
An Anthology of Respect: The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees. ISBN(s): 0979394126; 0979394119 Format(s): 6 x 9 Paperback; 6 x 9 Hardback w/Jacket SRP: (Paperback) US $39.95/CAN $41.95; (Hardback w/Jacket) US $44.95/CAN $46.95
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After the end of the Civil War, when Chicago industrialist and inventor George Pullman conceived the idea of the Pullman Car, well-mannered and educated former slaves were hired and trained to be Pullman Porters to service wealthy train travelers. The pay was poor, the hours grueling, and the working conditions appalling, but many of the initial workers viewed it as an opportunity to move away from agrarian labor and expand their horizons.
Year after year, a sense of teamwork, pride, and unity developed among the employees, and, as author Lyn Hughes states, they created “a self-imposed standard of excellence, which was to “set the standard for the hospitality industry.” Between the Twenties and the Thirties, there were as many as 20,000 black Pullman porters, maids and ding Car Waiters and other railroad personnel. “Adorned in their distinguished Pullman blue uniforms with a brass ‘Pullman’ emblem on his cap, African Americans registered their employment into more of a sign of internal dignity than company ownership over labor.”
By the turn of the 20th century, Pullman workers sought to make changes to their unfair working conditions, but it would take until 1925 for any real progress to take place. This came about with the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American union to be formed as a result of arbitration with an American corporation under the auspices of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and as a result of the strength of A. Philip Randolph, a leader in the area of civil rights.
Beginning with the preface written by renowned historian Lerone Bennett Jr. and poet Nikki Giovanni’s Train Rides, An Anthology of Respect pulls readers into learning and reliving a history that is vital and compelling, but most of all, deserves to be told. As Lyn Hughes wrote in here original poem Who Were They: “They were our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles and cousins. Quite simply men … concentrating on how to provide for their families. They were ordinary men who unknowingly were doing an extraordinary thing. Making history. For that they deserved to be honored.”
Author Lyn Hughes is a cultural activist-scholar and founder of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. She began the project of creating this historic registry in 2000, for the purpose of bringing to light not only the personal stories of the Pullman Porters but to illuminate the effect that these incredible men and women had on African-American history.
For more information or to contact the author, visit www.outskirtspress.com/lynhughes
Readers will discover some of the most prominent and recognizable names in America’s political, entertainment, and business arenas appear in the book as either former employees, like Thurgood Marshall, the Supreme Court justice, Gordon Parks, internationally renowned photographer, author J.A. Rogers Benjamin, Elijah Mays, and Malcolm X , were all former Pullman Porters and Dining Car Waiters. There are also descendants whose names are instantly recognized like; Chicago’s Warner Saunders, NBC 5 News anchor, Tom Bradley, who became the second African-American mayor of a major U.S. city, Los Angeles. Willie Lewis Brown Jr. the first African-American mayor of San Francisco, Media mogul Tom Joyner, and Whoopi Goldberg, all distinguished descendants of Pullman Porters.
The book is available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, outskirtspress.com and selected local book Stores. 10% percent of all books sales will go to Autism One, a charity organization, which helps children with autism, recover.
An Anthology of Respect: The Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees. ISBN(s): 0979394126; 0979394119 Format(s): 6 x 9 Paperback; 6 x 9 Hardback w/Jacket SRP: (Paperback) US $39.95/CAN $41.95; (Hardback w/Jacket) US $44.95/CAN $46.95
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888.672.6657 ext. 704
www.outskirtspress.com
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