The Pullman Porters organized and founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925. A. Philip Randolph, then a New York journalist, agreed to become their president. Under the leadership of Randolph and Milton Webster in Chicago, the union became the first African American labor union in the country and achieved its first contract covering wages and conditions of employment in 1937 The Pullman Company was the largest single employer of black labor in the U.S., with approximately 12,000 employed, mostly as porters, after Word War I. It was the porter's duty to look after the travel needs of the passengers in the sleeping cars, "the hotels on wheels." The principal task of porters was to transform the day-time seating accommodations into night-time berths in which the passengers slept.

The high quality of service they provided was essential to the success of the passenger railroad industry and to the fortunes of the Pullman Palace Car Company, headquartered in Chicago. The sleeping cars were built in Pullman's model town with shops located at 111th and Cottage Grove Ave.

The Sleeping Car Porters and their union played a powerful role in the African-American struggle for economic advancement and for Civil Rights.

The A. Philip Randolph Museum is located in the area known as North Pullman, at 10406 S. Maryland Ave. (104th Street between Corliss and Maryland Streets). Mailing address: P.O. Box 6276, Chicago, IL 60680. It is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For further information call 773-928-3935 or check the website
www.APhilipRandolphMuseum.org