Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945

Between World War I and World War II, African Americans’ quest for civil rights took on a more aggressive character as a new group of black activists challenged the politics of civility traditionally embraced by old-guard leaders in favor of a more forceful protest strategy. Beth Tompkins Bates traces the rise of this new protest politics-which was grounded in making demands and backing them up with collective action-by focusing on the struggle of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) to form a union in Chicago, headquarters of the Pullman Company.