Synopses & Reviews
From the Civil War to the 1950s, just as the Pullman car was the mainstay of long-distance train transportation, the Pullman car porter was a fixture in American life. Primarily hired to fit the stereotype of black servants, these almost exclusively African-American men, at the risk of their jobs, eventually formed their own union in response to labor conditions. Here in their own words are their experiences -- and those of the Amtrak workers following them -- including their relations with passengers, their employers, their union, and among themselves, in candid, fascinating interviews. Those Pullman Blues conjures up the romance of a bygone era of railroad travel and at the same time seriously relates the workers' hardships and gains.
-- Explores the history of the Brotherhood of Pullman Car Workers
-- An engrossing book for anyone interested in railroad history, African-American history, American studies, and labor history.
Synopsis
The first oral history centering on the unique experiences of black porters and railroad attendants during the railroad's heyday is by turns dramatic, inspiring, comic, and heartwrenching. First person accounts document both the glamour of the railroad era and the bitter realities of being a black worker on a white railroad.