Night Trains and Daylight Change: The Brotherhood That Shifted America’s Tracks
In the 1920s, luxury rail travel had a hidden engine: the Pullman porters, many of whom were formerly enslaved men. Their long hours and quiet dignity powered America’s trains, but their voices were often left unheard—until the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters rolled onto the scene in 1925.
This union, the first African American group to join the American Federation of Labor, fought for better pay and working conditions, setting a precedent for labor rights and civil rights alike. Figures like E.D. Nixon and C.L. Dellums emerged from its ranks, later fueling the broader movement for racial equality. At the helm stood A. Philip Randolph, a sharp editor and activist whose advocacy reached all the way to the White House, influencing the desegregation of both the defense industry and the military.
From midnight shifts to marches on Washington, the Brotherhood’s journey reveals how collective action can reroute the course of history—one train car at a time.
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