Critical moment

1894

he 1894 pullman strike near THE STRIKE BEGAN troops killed and wounded dozens, effectively ending prompted US President to after the strike. establish a new federal holiday: . lowered wages without The strike’s end was not a victory for Pullman. lowering rents in the But that was political posturing. The strike he ran Berated even by other business leaders for his harsh Twas a disaster for most Pullman workers, south of Chicago. After handling of the strike, Pullman died of a heart attack and a tragedy for others. As many as 30 strikers federal troops shot three years later, at age 66. So hated was Pullman in dozens of strikers, public died at the hands of trigger-happy federal troops opinion turned against Chicago that his family buried him in an extra-thick that Cleveland had dispatched to Chicago. Untold Pullman. In 1898, the vault to keep his remains from being desecrated. numbers of other workers were fired. Those who did Supreme Court Nearly a century and a quarter later, the Pullman ordered Pullman to return to their jobs gained no concessions in pay or divest the town, now a strike stands as a monument to how wrong a labor conditions. The leader of the strike was jailed. Chicago historic district. dispute can go. “Everyone lost something,” says Before the strike, George Pullman, founder of Susan E. Hirsch, Professor Emerita of History, Loyola Chicago-based Pullman Palace Car Co., whose University Chicago, and author of a book After the sleeping cars offered first-class travel, was known as a Strike: A Century of Labor Struggle at Pullman. “Many benevolent employer who provided housing for his Americans felt the strike and government response workers in a company town just south of Chicago. had torn the country apart.” That reputation never was legitimate, as Pullman Six days later, Cleveland signed legislation creating made a profit off worker rents. When the so-called Labor Day, a move largely seen as an attempt to struck, softening demand for sleeping placate labor members ahead of mid-term elections. cars, Pullman lowered wages without lowering rents, It didn’t work. That November, Cleveland’s inciting a strike. Democratic party suffered its worst loss in decades. When the strike threatened mail service, President jayne rosefield, a Partner, leads Brunswick’s Cleveland sent about 6,000 soldiers to ensure the newly opened Chicago office and the firm’s US

movement of trains. In the violence that ensued, the Consumer Industries practice. PHOTOGRAPH: SCIENCE ALAMY HISTORY/ IMAGES STOCK PHOTO

78 brunswick review · issue 13 · 2017