- 354 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
An engaging social history that reveals the critical role Pullman porters played in the struggle for African American civil rights.
George Pullman began recruiting Southern blacks as porters in his luxurious new sleeping cars just as the Civil War was ending, and the offer of a steady job and the chance to see the world proved irresistible. Scores of former slaves signed up to serve as maid and waiter, concierge, nanny, and occasionally doctor and undertaker to cars full of well-heeled white passengers, making the Pullman Company the largest employer of African Americans in the country by the early 1900s.
Drawing on extensive interviews with dozens of porters and their descendants, Larry Tye reconstructs the world of the Pullman porter and the vital cultural, political, and economic roles he played as forerunner of the modern black middle class. Rising from the Rails is a riveting look at this missing chapter of American history.
Praise for Rising from the Rails
Named a Recommended Book by The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Seattle Times
"A valuable window into a long-underreported dimension of African American history." — Newsday
"A highly readable business history at one end and labor history at the other. . . . Tye shows what whites never saw—the grinding, often humiliating, realities of the job and the rippling effect of steady employment in the upward mobility of the porters' children and grandchildren." — Publishers Weekly
George Pullman began recruiting Southern blacks as porters in his luxurious new sleeping cars just as the Civil War was ending, and the offer of a steady job and the chance to see the world proved irresistible. Scores of former slaves signed up to serve as maid and waiter, concierge, nanny, and occasionally doctor and undertaker to cars full of well-heeled white passengers, making the Pullman Company the largest employer of African Americans in the country by the early 1900s.
Drawing on extensive interviews with dozens of porters and their descendants, Larry Tye reconstructs the world of the Pullman porter and the vital cultural, political, and economic roles he played as forerunner of the modern black middle class. Rising from the Rails is a riveting look at this missing chapter of American history.
Praise for Rising from the Rails
Named a Recommended Book by The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Seattle Times
"A valuable window into a long-underreported dimension of African American history." — Newsday
"A highly readable business history at one end and labor history at the other. . . . Tye shows what whites never saw—the grinding, often humiliating, realities of the job and the rippling effect of steady employment in the upward mobility of the porters' children and grandchildren." — Publishers Weekly
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Rising from the Rails by Larry Tye in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & African American History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- PREFACE
- 1 - Out of Bondage, All Aboard
- 2 - Rough Rides, Intimate Encounters
- 3 - “My Name’s Not George”
- 4 - Saint Philip and the Battle for Brotherhood
- 5 - Behind the Mask
- 6 - Train to Freedom
- 7 - A Legacy That Lasts
- Praise for RISING FROM THE RAILS
- NOTES
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- INDEX
- About the Author
- Notes
- Copyright Page