I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5420 
To establish the Pullman National Historical Park in the State of Illinois 
as a unit of the National Park System, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 12, 2019 
Ms. KELLY of Illinois (for herself and Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources 
A BILL 
To establish the Pullman National Historical Park in the 
State of Illinois as a unit of the National Park System, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pullman National His-
torical Park Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
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(1) in 1970, the Secretary of the Interior des-
ignated the Pullman Historic District as a National 
Historic Landmark District because of— 
(A) the significance of the District to the 
labor history, social history, architecture, and 
urban planning of the United States; and 
(B) the pivotal role of events in the Dis-
trict in creating the first national Labor Day 
holiday in the world; 
(2) between 1880 and 1884, George M. Pull-
man, owner of the Pullman Palace Car Company, 
built the Pullman community, which was envisioned 
by Pullman as an industrial town that would provide 
employees with— 
(A) a model community; and 
(B) suitable living conditions; 
(3) the town developed by George M. Pullman, 
which consisted of over 1,000 buildings and homes, 
was awarded ‘‘The World’s Most Perfect Town’’ at 
the International Hygienic and Pharmaceutical Ex-
position in 1896; 
(4) the Pullman factory site is a true symbol of 
the historic struggle in the United States to achieve 
fair labor practices for the working class, with the 
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original factory serving as the catalyst for the first 
industry-wide strike in the United States; 
(5) in the midst of economic depression in 
1894, to protest unsafe conditions and reductions in 
pay, Pullman factory workers initiated a strike 
that— 
(A) when taken up as a cause by the 
American Railway Union, crippled the entire 
rail industry; 
(B) continued even in the face of a Federal 
injunction and a showdown between laborers 
and Federal troops that turned violent and 
deadly; and 
(C) set a national example for the ability 
of working people in the United States to 
change the existing system in favor of more just 
practices for protecting workers’ rights and 
safety; 
(6) following the deaths of a number of workers 
at the hands of the United States military and 
United States Marshals during the 1894 strike, Con-
gress unanimously voted to approve rush legislation 
that created a national Labor Day holiday, which 
was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland 
6 days after the end of the strike; 
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(7) the Pullman Palace Car Company also 
played an important role in African-American and 
early civil rights history through the legacy of the 
Pullman porters, many of whom were ex-slaves and 
employed in a heavily discriminatory environment 
immediately following the Civil War; 
(8) the Pullman porters, who served diligently 
between the 1870s and the 1960s, have been com-
mended for— 
(A) their level of service and attention to 
detail; and 
(B) their contributions to the development 
of the African-American middle class; 
(9) the information, ideas, and commerce the 
Pullman porters carried across the country while 
traveling on trains helped to bring education and 
wealth to African-American communities throughout 
the United States; 
(10) the positive role of the Pullman porters in 
the historical image of the first-class service that 
was made available on Pullman cars is unmistak-
able; 
(11) the Pullman community was the seminal 
home to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, 
which— 
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(A) was founded by civil rights pioneer A. 
Philip Randolph in 1925; 
(B) was the first African-American labor 
union with a collective bargaining agreement; 
(C) fought— 
(i) against discrimination; and 
(ii) in support of just labor practices; 
and 
(D) helped lay the groundwork for what 
became the great Civil Rights Movement of the 
20th Century; 
(12) the Pullman community is— 
(A) a paramount illustration of the work of 
architect Solon Spencer Beman; 
(B) a well-preserved example of 19th cen-
tury community planning, architecture, and 
landscape design; and 
(C) comprised of a number of historic 
structures, including the Administration Clock 
Tower Building, Hotel Florence, Greenstone 
Church, Market Square, and hundreds of units 
of rowhouses built for Pullman workers; 
(13) the preservation of the Pullman site has 
been threatened by— 
(A) plans for demolition in 1960; and 
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(B) a fire in 1998, which damaged the 
iconic clock tower and the rear erecting shops; 
(14) the diligent efforts of community organiza-
tions, foundations, nonprofit organizations, resi-
dents, the State, and units of local government in 
the restoration and preservation of the District after 
the 1998 fire were vital to the protection of the Pull-
man site; 
(15) due to the historic and architectural sig-
nificance of the District, the District is designated 
as— 
(A) a registered National Historic Land-
mark District; 
(B) an Illinois State Landmark; and 
(C) a City of Chicago Landmark District; 
and 
(16) the preservation, enhancement, economic, 
and tourism potential and management of the im-
portant historic and architectural resources of the 
Park requires cooperation and partnerships from 
among local property owners, the Federal Govern-
ment, the State, units of local government, the pri-
vate and nonprofit sectors, and the more than 100 
civic organizations that have expressed support for 
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community preservation through the establishment 
of the Pullman National Historical Park. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) PARK.—The term ‘‘Park’’ means the Pull-
man National Historical Park established by section 
4(a). 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 
of Illinois. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PULLMAN NATIONAL HISTOR-
ICAL PARK. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE.—There is es-
tablished in the State a unit of the National Park System, 
to be known as the ‘‘Pullman National Historical Park’’— 
(1) to preserve and interpret for the benefit of 
future generations— 
(A) the significant labor, industrial, civil 
rights, and social history of the Park; 
(B) the significant architectural structures 
in the Park; and 
(C) the role of the Pullman community in 
the creation of the first national Labor Day 
holiday in the world; 
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(2) to coordinate preservation, protection, and 
interpretation efforts of the Park by the Federal 
Government, the State, units of local government, 
and private and nonprofit organizations; and 
(3) to coordinate appropriate management op-
tions necessary to ensure the protection, preserva-
tion, and interpretation of the many significant as-
pects of the Park. 
(b) PARK BOUNDARY.—The boundary of the Park— 
(1) shall be established by the Secretary; but 
(2) shall not exceed the boundary of the ap-
proximately 300-acre Pullman Historic District in 
Chicago, which is between— 
(A) 103rd Street on the north; 
(B) 115th Street on the south; 
(C) Cottage Grove Avenue on the west; 
and 
(D) the Norfolk & Western Rail Line on 
the east. 
(c) INCLUSION OF HISTORIC SITES.—On conveyance 
by the State to the Secretary, the Park shall include— 
(1) the Pullman Factory Complex, including the 
Clock Tower Building and rear erecting shops; and 
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(2) the approximately 13 acres of land on which 
the structures described in paragraph (1) are lo-
cated. 
SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall administer 
land within the boundary of the Park in accordance 
with— 
(1) this Act; and 
(2) the laws generally applicable to units of the 
National Park System, including— 
(A) section 100101(a), chapter 1003, and 
sections 100751(a), 100752, 100753, and 
102101 of title 54, United States Code; and 
(B) chapter 3201 of title 54, United States 
Code. 
(b) COOPERATIVE
AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary 
may enter into cooperative agreements with the State or 
other public and nonpublic entities, under which the Sec-
retary may identify, interpret, and provide assistance for 
the preservation of non-Federal land within the bound-
aries of the Park and at sites in close proximity to the 
Park but located outside the boundaries of the Park, in-
cluding providing for placement of directional and inter-
pretive signage, exhibits, and technology-based interpre-
tive devices. 
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(c) ACQUISITION OF LAND.—The Secretary may ac-
quire for inclusion in the Park any land (including inter-
ests in land), buildings, or structures owned by the State 
or any other political, private, or nonprofit entity by dona-
tion, transfer, exchange, or purchase from a willing seller. 
(d) TECHNICAL AND PRESERVATION ASSISTANCE.— 
The Secretary may provide public interpretation and tech-
nical assistance for the preservation of historic structures 
of, the maintenance of the cultural landscape of, and local 
preservation planning for, related historic and cultural re-
sources within the boundaries of the Park. 
(e) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than 3 fiscal 
years after the date on which funds are first made avail-
able to carry out this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 
with the State, shall complete a general management plan 
for the Park in accordance with— 
(1) section 100502 of title 54, United States 
Code; and 
(2) any other applicable laws. 
(f) EFFECT.—Nothing in this Act modifies any au-
thority of the Federal Government to carry out Federal 
laws on Federal land located in the Park. 
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SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as are necessary to carry out this Act. 
Æ 
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