Daily AncestorPullman porter
A Pullman porter attended passengers on a railroad sleeping car, making up berths, carrying bags, shining shoes and serving riders.
Starting in the late 1860s the Pullman Company hired Black men, many formerly enslaved, as porters on its sleeping cars, and for about a century the job was held almost entirely by Black men. Pay was low and porters relied heavily on tips.
In 1925 the porters formed the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters under A. Philip Randolph, the first all-Black union. A porter in the family can mean railroad employment records and union papers worth searching.
As seen in a recordOccupation column of the 1900 to 1940 census
Jas. Turner, 34, Porter, Pullman Car
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Pullman porter." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/pullman-porter. Last checked 2026-10-01.