George Pullman

Lore & Background

Pullman was born in 1831 in Brocton, New York, the son of a carpenter. His family moved to Albion, New York, in 1845, where his father invented a machine using jackscrews to move buildings. After his father died in 1853, Pullman took over the family business at age 22. In 1859, he moved to Chicago to raise buildings as the city re-engineered its sewage system, successfully raising large structures such as the Matteson House and the Tremont House without damage.

Pullman developed the railroad sleeping car, or 'palace car,' finishing the first one in 1864. After President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Pullman arranged for his body to be carried from Washington, D.C., to Springfield on a sleeper, gaining national attention. Orders poured in. In 1867, he introduced the first 'hotel on wheels,' the President, a sleeper with a kitchen and dining car. The company hired African-American freedmen as Pullman porters, who provided elite service and were compensated with a small base salary in addition to tips.

In 1880, Pullman bought 4,000 acres near Lake Calumet south of Chicago and built a company town with housing, shopping, churches, theaters, parks, a hotel, and a library. During an 1894 downturn, he halved wages and required long hours but did not lower rents in the town, leading to the Pullman Strike. President Grover Cleveland supported the use of federal troops, which left 30 strikers dead. A national commission investigated, and in 1898 the Supreme Court of Illinois ordered the company to divest the town.

Reader's Guide

George Pullman's significance lies in his dual legacy as a pioneering industrialist and a symbol of labor conflict. His Pullman sleeping car revolutionized rail travel by offering luxury accommodations for the middle class, and his company became the largest employer of African Americans in post-Civil War America through its corps of Pullman porters. However, his model company town, intended to foster a loyal workforce, instead became a flashpoint for labor unrest when he refused to lower rents while cutting wages. The violent suppression of the Pullman Strike, with federal troops and 30 deaths, marked a turning point in U.S. labor relations and led to a national commission and the eventual court-ordered divestiture of the town. Pullman's career illustrates the tensions between industrial innovation, corporate control, and workers' rights in the late 19th century.

Did You Know?

• Pullman's father invented a machine using jackscrews to move buildings, a skill George later used to raise entire city blocks in Chicago.
• After President Lincoln's assassination, Pullman arranged for his body to be carried on a sleeper, gaining national attention.
• The Pullman company town was ordered divested by the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1898.
• Pullman porters, all African-American men, received a small base salary in addition to tips.