<I>Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1982
name: label: Directed by
content: Jack Santino Ph.D., American, born 1947
label: Directed by
content: Paul Wagner, American, born 1948
label: Subject of
content: Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, American, 1925 - 1978
label: Subject of
content: Rosina Tucker, American, 1881 - 1987
label: Subject of
content: A. Philip Randolph, American, 1889 - 1979
label: Owned by
content: D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
notes: label: Caption
content: This 1982 documentary details the history of the Black Pullman Porters who organized for the right to unionize and form the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Narrated by the activist, educator, and wife of a Pullman Porter, Mrs. Rosina Tucker, the film uses the first-hand accounts of former Pullman porters to explicate the working conditions that Black male Pullman Porters endured prior to the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1937. Directed by Paul Wagner in 1982, this film offers a comprehensive history of the Black Pullman porters who fought for equal pay and treatment, despite racial discrimination, through the organization and formation of a union during the Jim Crow Era.
label: Caption
content: This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
label: Description
content: A documentary film with the title Miles of Smiles, Years of Struggle. There are four prints of the film (2017.55.116.1a), (2017.55.116.2a), (2017.55.116.3a), and (2017.55.116.4a), all of which are color 16mm acetate film with bilateral area optical sound.
label: Description
content: The documentary details the history of the Black Pullman Porters who organized for the right to unionize and form the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. It begins with a brief history of the Pullman Car Company and their reliance on exploited Black male labor. Narrated by the activist, educator, and wife of a Pullman Porter, Mrs. Rosina Tucker, the film uses a combination of archival footage, photographs, and first-hand accounts of former Pullman porters to explicate the working conditions that Black male Pullman Porters endured prior to the formation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1937. It shows how they fought for equal pay and treatment, despite racial discrimination, through the organization and formation of a union during the Jim Crow Era. Individuals featured in the documentary include Lawrence W. Davis, C.L. Dellums, Ernest Ford Jr., Green Glenn, Homer Glenn, William Harrington, Hunter Johnson, L. Long, William D. Miller, E.D. Nixon, L.C. Richie, J.D. Shaw, Rex Stewart, and C.J. Talley.
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Activism
label: Topic
content: Associations and institutions
label: Topic
content: Civil Rights
label: Topic
content: Documentary films
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Professional organizations
label: Topic
content: Pullman Porters
label: Topic
content: Race discrimination
label: Topic
content: Segregation
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Collection title
content: DC Public Library Film Collection
label: Classification
content: Time-based Media - Moving Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2017.55.116
objectType: label: Type
content: sound films
label: Type
content: color films (visual works)
label: Type
content: 16mm (photographic film size)
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: acetate film
label: Dimensions
content: Duration: 56 min.