The Sophisticate Chronicles

Labor Day was founded after the Pullman Strike of 1894, when President Cleveland was hoping to gain political allyship by honoring railroad workers. However, the story about the involvement of the Black Pullman porters in the labor movement is not always told. “Pullman porters were black men who worked in the train cars attending to their mostly white passengers, performing such tasks as shining shoes, carrying bags, and janitorial services. During this period, this profession was the largest employer of blacks in the nation and constituted a significant portion of the Pullman company’s workforce…” -Theodore R. Johnson Despite Black porters being a significant part of the Pullman’s workforce, they were not allowed to strike and were also denied access to the labor union. This led Black railroad workers to form their own union, the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, which was the first Black union in America. A. Philip Randolph was the first president of the union, and he was also