Pullman Wood Hanger
date: label: Date
content: 20th century
notes: label: Caption
content: The Pullman Sleeping Car’s design allowed train passengers, as printed on this clothes hanger, to “travel and sleep in safety and comfort.” The luxury railcars provided seats that Pullman Porters transformed into sleeping berths for overnight journeys and amenities such as this wooden hanger. Below its curved hook, wavy pieces of metal join wooden arms together to connect two sides of the triangular hanger. A wooden rod, from which folded pants could hang, forms the third side. Many formerly enslaved African Americans served as Pullman Porters, who became known not only for customer service, but also activism. Working as a Pullman Porter was one of few jobs available to African Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, and, despite low wages, helped many enter the middle class. Unlike passengers, however, porters often experienced discomfort, enduring racism along with long hours and little sleep. In 1925, A. Philip Randolph organized The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, which became the first African American union to achieve a collective bargaining agreement.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anacostia Community Museum Collection
creditLine: label: Cite As
content: Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Glenn Green
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Anacostia Community Museum
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 1996.0006.0001b
objectType: label: Type
content: hanger
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood and metal.
label: Dimensions
content: 8 3/4 × 16 15/16 × 11/16 in. (22.3 × 43 × 1.8 cm)