Sat., Aug. 13: “Pullman: The Man, the Company, the Historic Park” with Dr. Kenneth Schoon, who discusses his book of the same name.

 Pullman is the name of a man, a company, a town (today a Chicago neighborhood), and a type of railroad car.  The name Pullman brings to mind luxurious accommodations on Pullman cars and identifies the porters who served in those rail cars and the first major railroad strike.  The story of his company town encompasses important segments in the history of urban planning, industrial efficiency, and labor/management conflict.  More than 160 years ago, George Mortimer Pullman realized that many railroad passengers would pay extra for comfort.  In 1869, he founded Pullman’s Palace Car Co.  He built luxurious passenger cars with comfortable, private sleeping accommodations and attentive service.  In 1880, he created the Town of Pullman to consolidate his factory complex and provide housing and living facilities to attract a productive and skilled workforce.  The town built of brick row houses had various types from executive double-houses, skilled craftsman, workers cottages, 2-flat, 3-flat, and 4-flat row houses, and boarding houses.  The Pullman Land Association owned and leased all the buildings in the town.  It was optional to live in town, and about two-thirds of the workers rented in the Town of Pullman, and some residents took in boarders.  There was the Pullman Savings & Loan Bank, and the workers received competitive wages, not paid in company script.  The commercial buildings, such as the Arcade or Market Hall, had store spaces leased to private businesses.  Also, the town had a school, library, post office, fire department, livery stables, church spaces, and more.

Today, 95% of the original town still stands and is the only landmark district in the Chicago-land area to have all the designations of Illinois Register of Historic Places (1969), National Historic Landmark District (1970), Chicago Landmark District (1972), and Pullman National Monument (2015).

After teaching for more than forty years, Ken Schoon is professor emeritus at Indiana University Northwest and has authored many history books. Copies of Pullman: The Man, the Company, the Historic Park will be available for purchase.

ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/94216026722?pwd=Tm1pSDlzV1NCclhrMTRPdUFPZFRoQT09
Meeting ID: 942 1602 6722
Passcode: ‘strive’ (all lowercase).