A. Philip Randolph was a labor organizer and one of the most influential political strategists of the twentieth century. His belief in organized labor’s ability to counter workforce discrimination and his skill in planning non-violent protests helped gain employment advancements for African Americans.
George Mortimer Pullman was an American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman sleeping car and founded a company town, Pullman, for the workers who manufactured it. His Pullman Company also hired African-American men to staff the Pullman cars, who became known and widely respected as Pullman porters, providing elite service.
Jennie Curtis, who was a seamstress in the repair shops, one of the most common jobs at the Pullman car shops for women. Curtis is significant not just because of the testimony she gave to the Strike Commission but because she was the president of The Girls Local Union 269, which had 125 members in 1894. Curtis famously gave a speech at the ARU convention of June 1894 that convinced the union members to support a boycott of Pullman trains to support the strike effort.
A prominent advocate for labor and civil rights, Rosina Corrothers Tucker played an integral role in the creation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and its International Ladies Auxiliary. She served as a leader in the Auxiliary for several decades and played a role in planning the March on Washington movement in the 1940s.
