Pullman porters to be honored here

They worked long hours doing often menial labor for meager pay on America's railroads, and paved the way for the civil rights movement in the process. Now, the unsung men known as Pullman porters are getting overdue recognition today for their historical legacy.

In conjunction with National Train Day, a handful of surviving Pullman porters in their 80s and 90s will be honored this afernoon during a ceremony at 30th Street Station. Similar gatherings have been held in Oakland, Calif., Chicago, and Washington.

"The stories and the history we have show the job these gentlemen did, and their dedication to top-notch service, was just incredible," said Darlene Abubakar, Amtrak's national advertising director. "We wanted to recognize them for that and share their stories."

Four men are expected to attend the Philadelphia event; a fifth man has been ill and may not be able to travel. The remaining living porters may only number in the dozens, Amtrak officials said.

"These were ordinary men who did an extraordinary thing," said Lyn Hughes, founder of the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum in Chicago.

Pullman porters not only were role models in their community, she said, they helped change race relations in America.

"These men were often the only exposure white Americans had to the African American community," Hughes said. "They were articulate, well-dressed, dignified, and they made that impression upon the general public. Even today when you see them, they're still dapper."

The porters were named for the first-class sleeping-car trains invented by Chicago industrialist George Pullman. The first Pullman porters, hired after the Civil War, were former slaves.

Their ranks reached 20,000 in the early part of the 20th century, making them the largest group of African American men employed in the country. They formed the first black labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, in the 1920s under the stewardship of A. Philip Randolph, who also was a civil rights leader.

Pullman porters led the way in creating America's black middle class. Prominent African American descendants from porters include the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

Percy Lee, 86, who rose from fourth cook to head chef during his 38 years working on the Illinois Central Railroad line, said everything from soup to desserts was made from scratch - three meals a day, every day.

"We made cobblers, pies, doughnuts, rolls, biscuits and cornbread, prime rib, stuffed pork chops, ham. We made it all right on the train," said Lee, who plans to be here today for the event. "The kitchen was so hot, and we worked so hard, some of the men would just fall right over."

In a telephone interview from his home in Fulton, Ky., Lee said he put six children through college from his work on the railroad. He had to retire in 1979 after his train derailed and left him with 13 broken ribs, internal injuries, and "2,000 stitches from my head to my feet.

"But I appreciate every day, every minute, I worked on that train," Lee said. "It was the best train in the world - with the best food in the world. Now, everything comes frozen."