Pullman Porters Serve as Critical Information Network in Black America

The tens of thousands of Black Pullman porters serving on America's railroads in the 1910s functioned as a crucial economic and information infrastructure for Black America. Earning relatively stable wages in an era of few Black professional opportunities, porters also carried Black newspapers into the South, relayed news and job information, and formed the backbone of what would become A. Philip Randolph's Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.