| Chicago, Arlington House, Sunday, October 23, | | | | worker rebellion. Criticized and scorned, |
| 2005, 6:25 am | | | | Pullman died a bitter man in 1897. |
| | | | |
| After being appropriately prepped as a result | | | | In 1898, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered |
| of our visit to the Chicago Cultural Center | | | | the Pullman Company to sell the |
| we decided to head off yesterday to visit the | | | | non-industrial land in the neighborhood to |
| Pullman Historic District, a planned | | | | its inhabitants, determining that the Pullman |
| industrial and residential community dating | | | | Palace Car Company did not have the proper |
| back to the 1880s, on Chicago's South Side. | | | | authority to provide nonmanufacturing |
| | | | services such as renting property. Finally, |
| In order to get there we took the red line | | | | residents could buy their homes. |
| all the way to the end and then connected | | | | |
| onto the 111 bus. What was very interesting | | | | Robert T. Lincoln, the son of President |
| to note was that the population on Chicago's | | | | Lincoln, became head of the company after |
| south side is predominantly black, as much of | | | | Pullman's death and simplified its name to |
| the black population from the US South had | | | | the Pullman Company. The Pullman Company |
| migrated northwards after the 2nd World War. | | | | continued to produce its famous cars at 111th |
| Actually Chicago was known as one of the most | | | | Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. But with the |
| racially segregated cities, and today, with | | | | explosion of automobile ownership, rail |
| the demolition of many of the bleak urban | | | | passenger traffic went into rapid decline. In |
| housing projects, the city is attempting to | | | | 1957, Pullman Incorporated closed its plant |
| create more integration between its black and | | | | in the neighborhood. |
| white population. | | | | |
| | | | Only three years later, the city of Chicago |
| The Pullman Historic District is the | | | | included Pullman on a list of "blighted and |
| manifestation of a very interesting social | | | | deteriorating areas" that required clearance |
| experiment: It was built between 1880 and | | | | and redevelopment. Residents responded by |
| 1884 as a planned model industrial town by | | | | forming the Pullman Civic Organization and |
| George M. Pullman for the Pullman Palace Car | | | | began working to gain landmark status. The |
| Company. George Pullman (1831 to 1897) | | | | Historic Pullman Foundation, which formed in |
| arrived on the scene with a design for the | | | | 1973, helps ensure the area's preservation |
| Pullman sleeping carriage which he originally | | | | and restoration by sponsoring various events |
| developed to carry the dead body of Abraham | | | | such as neighborhood walking tours, annual |
| Lincoln to his funeral. As a result the | | | | house tours, Sunday brunch at the Florence |
| Pullman Sleeping Car Company was established | | | | Hotel, and presentations at the Pullman |
| and a whole town was built around the | | | | Visitor Center. |
| business and named after its originator. | | | | |
| | | | In many ways the housing development was |
| We went to the Visitor Center and saw an | | | | ahead of its time. Each building, most of |
| 18-minute movie that described George Pullman | | | | them townhouses, had gas and water, complete |
| and his ambitious plans for his development | | | | sanitary facilities and abundant quantities |
| of a model community, a total environment, | | | | of sunlight and fresh air, which was a rarity |
| that he intended to be superior to that | | | | at that time, when the working class was |
| available to the working class elsewhere. By | | | | mostly housed in squalid tenements. |
| so doing, he hoped to avoid strikes, attract | | | | Originally the town of Pullman housed about |
| the most skilled workers and attain greater | | | | 12,000 people while today it still has a |
| productivity as a result of the better health | | | | population of about 2,000, with an ethnically |
| and spirit of his employees. | | | | and economically mixed background. |
| | | | |
| To achieve his vision, George Pullman hired | | | | Other famous buildings on the Pullman grounds |
| Solon S. Beaman, landscape architect Nathan | | | | include the Hotel Florence, named after |
| F. Barrett and civil engineer, Benzette | | | | Pullman's favourite daughter. It opened in |
| Williams. The town was constructed by Pullman | | | | 1881 as a hospitality showcase for visitors |
| employees, using local red clay from Lake | | | | to George Pullman's perfect town and |
| Calumet and component parts that were | | | | originally had 50 rooms, a dining room, a |
| produced in the Pullman factory. This project | | | | billiard room, a parlor and the only bar in |
| is one of the first examples of industrial | | | | Pullman. The Historic Pullman Foundation |
| technology and mass production in large-scale | | | | managed to save the hotel from demolition and |
| housing. The town was a complete planned | | | | today the hotel is closed to the public while |
| community and included schools, a library and | | | | it is undergoing a capital improvement |
| hotel all run by the company. | | | | program to restore it for use with the State |
| | | | Historic Site. |
| Pullman's large Arcade building (now | | | | |
| demolished and the present location of the | | | | The Pullman Clock Tower and Administration |
| Visitor Center) featured a restaurant, a | | | | Building was built in 1880 for the executive |
| bank, a library, a post office, a theater, | | | | offices of the Pullman Palace Car Company, at |
| and numerous shops. It was a forerunner of | | | | the time one of the most beautiful industrial |
| the modern shopping center. The town was | | | | complexes in the United States. In 1998 the |
| completely self-contained. Pullman residents | | | | Clock Tower and Administration Building were |
| enjoyed the manmade Lake Vista and plenty of | | | | seriously damaged by a fire set by an |
| parks and promenades, features typically | | | | arsonist. Since then the building has been |
| missing from Chicago's working-class | | | | stabilized and the restored Clock Tower was |
| neighbourhoods. | | | | put back on just a few days before our visit. |
| | | | Future use of the site is currently being |
| The town of Pullman was a model of financial | | | | debated by a task force institute by Chicago |
| efficiency. Pullman demanded that the company | | | | Mayor Daley and Illinois Governor Ryan. |
| return an 8-percent profit and the town | | | | |
| return a 6-percent profit. A huge engine | | | | Another interesting building located on the |
| pumped sewage from the town to a nearby | | | | Pullman Historic District is the Queen |
| Pullman-owned farm, where it was used as | | | | Anne-style Market Hall which was built in |
| fertilizer for produce that would be sold | | | | 1881. The Market provided a venue for fresh |
| back in the town. | | | | fruits, meats and other goods. The original |
| | | | market was destroyed by fire in 1892 and a |
| George Pullman maintained ultimate control | | | | new market was built on the existing |
| over the town, even restricting workers' | | | | foundation. The market is surrounded by four |
| access to alcohol, as the Hotel Florence only | | | | colonnaded circular apartment buildings that |
| sold alcohol to out-of-town visitors. | | | | were built with the new Market Hall in 1893. |
| Resentment towards this paternalistic despot | | | | Unfortunately the Market Hall Building was |
| started to build. Misfortune struck with the | | | | destroyed by fire in 1973 and today it awaits |
| decline of the Pullman car's success which | | | | restoration. |
| forced George to slash wages. Workers | | | | |
| responded with a strike, fuelled by Pullman's | | | | The Greenstone Church, located centrally in |
| failure to reduce grocery costs and rent, but | | | | the Pullman Historic District, has an |
| George simply fired them. The situation | | | | exterior facade of serpentine stone quarried |
| deteriorated as railway workers refused to | | | | in Pennsylvania. The sanctuary is unchanged |
| handle Pullman cars and President Cleveland | | | | with the exception of the chancel |
| had to intervene, sending federal troops to | | | | arrangements. All of the cherry wood is |
| the scene. The workers were forced to sign | | | | original. Today the church is still occupied |
| documentation declaring that they wouldn't | | | | by a Methodist congregation. |
| join a union. | | | | |
| | | | The visit to the Pullman Historic District |
| Although the strike collapsed, George | | | | was very interesting. It taught us about a |
| Pullman's model for handling the "labour | | | | different time of ultimate laissez-faire |
| problem" had failed. Pullman had prided | | | | capitalism, industrial growth and |
| himself on his paternalistic approach with | | | | immigration, labour unrest, urban planning, |
| his workers, and he could not see how his | | | | architecture and the ultimate failure of a |
| heavy-handed methods had resulted in this | | | | rather unique social experiment. |