Pete, and the gentleman who inquired:
You may be thinking of the book "Those Pullman Blues" by David D. Perata,
in Twayne's Oral History Series No. 22, published by Simon & Schuster
Macmillan in 1996. It is excellent, although the focus is on only eight
men, three of whom are brothers.
For a broader, and equally compelling analysis, I would recommend the
documentary film "Miles of Smiles; Years of Struggle", which was produced
in the early 1980s, and was available for purchase on video in the
mid-1990s. Both the book and film come up in Library of Congress
searches. I've use both in my U.S. railroad history course, along with a
few selections from William Moedinger's great six-issued series on being a
Pullman conductor during WWII, that appeared in Trains in the early-to-mid
1970's.
Dennis Henry
At 04:19 PM 2/10/02 -0500, you wrote:
>There is a book .....My memory is a total blank now, but maybe something will
>come up...regarding the Pullman Porter and his role in the areas mentioned.
>
>It may be the biography of A. Phillip Randolph, who if memory serves, was the
>guy who attempted to organize the porters....
>
>I always thought that whatever the book was it would be interesting reading,
>but I never got around to it.
>
>Maybe this will spark a memory with someone else.
>
>On the Rock Island as the diners and sleepers were eliminated the company
>retrained some of these guys for clerical and other jobs, but that's been
>going on 40 years ago.
>
>A long retired passenger conductor might be a lead to a sleeping car
>employee.
>
>If you could find one it's like prospecting for insurance or other business
>that one might lead you to others.
>
>There....I really didn't say anything, but, I'd be really interested in
>seeing a book along the lines proposed.
>
>Pete
Dennis C. Henry Office Location: 213 Olin Hall
Professor of Physics office phone: (507) 933-7314
Gustavus Adolphus College office fax: (507) 933-6104
St. Peter, MN 56082-1498 home phone: (507) 931-2784
e-mail: dchenry@g... http://physics.gac.edu/~dchenry/
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