Interpreting the History of the Pullman Porters at the New Pullman National Monument Visitors Center

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

President Obama established the Pullman National Monument in 2015. He described Pullman as a “milestone on our journey toward a more perfect union” and directed the National Park Service (NPS) to interpret the industrial and labor history of the site, including “the rise and role of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.” However, for decades, the story of the Pullman porters has been largely excluded from interpretive exhibits and tours, which have focused instead on George Pullman and his model factory town or the Pullman Strike of 1894. But in 1995, the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum (NAPRPPM) was established and has interpreted the porters’ story in Pullman for a quarter century. This paper examines how the NPS and NAPRPPM coordinated to develop interpretive exhibits for the new Pullman National Monument Visitors Center, which opened on Labor Day weekend of 2021.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology