Pullman, Debs, and
Illinois Railroad Workers

Amanda Cairo
Franklin Fine Arts Center, Chicago

Illinois was a leader in railroad construction and usage, and, ironically, a leader in railroad-workers' discontent and, eventually, strikes. Chicagoan George Mortimer Pullman became famous for his railroad car inventions and designs. The overnight sleeper car bears his name to this day. Pullman founded a model town for his workers, but they still had complaints. Eugene Victor Debs, a Socialist, organized the Brotherhood of Railway Locomotive Firemen, an early union. Chicago and Illinois were focal points in these early organizations, and the strikes that followed for better working conditions and higher wages were long and strife-ridden. In 1894 Debs's union led the famous Pullman Strike against the Chicago railroad car manufactory. Debs also organized the Social-Democratic Party of America and ran as its candidate for president in 1900. He was not elected.

Most of the labor-management disagreements were over low wages and poor working conditions. In the early years the disagreements were usually settled by court decree in favor of management. In more recent times, these matters have been settled by binding arbitration and by federal mediators.— [From Webster's Biographical Dictionary; Who Was Who in America, Vol. 1.]

In spite of the strife at the Pullman plant, the company continued to manufacture
passenger cars. The roomette pictured below was built in 1923.

ILLINOIS HISTORY / DECEMBER 1994

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