George Pullman: Engineering Skills Can be Passed On

George M. Pullman was an American engineer and industrialist. He was the designer and manufacturer of the Pullman sleeping car. He housed his company workers in a company town he named after himself, the Pullman. He hired African-Americans to work in the Pullman Company. These workers were later known as Pullman porters, who were known to provide elite service.

During the downturn in manufacturing demand in 1894, Pullman Company struggled to stay profitable. Pullman had to lower the workers’ salaries and required them to work longer hours in the plant. In return, Pullman did not raise the prices or the rent in the Pullman company town. He earned the support of President Grover Cleveland for using federal military to suppress the violence of the workers in the Pullman Strike of 1894.The strike was investigated by a national commission, including the operations at the Pullman company town. The Supreme Court of Illinois ordered the Pullman company to divest the town. Consequently, the Pullman company town was annexed by Chicago.

Pullman was born on March 3, 1831 in Brocton, New York. Later, the Pullman family moved to Albion, New York near the Erie Canal, where Pullman attended local schools. He did odd jobs there where he learned other skills that helped him later in his successes. At 14 years old, Pullman quit school to work for a country merchant as clerk. During the time when the Erie Canal was widened, Pullman worked with his father in moving housing. He learned a new technique of moving houses to newly built foundations.

At the time when Chicago was expanding rapidly, the young engineer Pullman moved there. Chicago was preparing to build the first comprehensive sewer system in the US. Pullman founded the partnership Ely, Smith & Pullman. It was said that Chicago laid on a low-lying bog. In fact, the residents in Chicago described the mud as deep enough to drown a horse. This condition made it impossible to place the sewers underground, forcing the city officials to install the sewers on top of the streets. Consequently, the project will raise the street by 6 to 8 feet above its present level.

Pullman was one of the engineers who worked on this project. The buildings in Chicago were raised to a new grade. Ely, Smith & Pullman gained a favorable publicity and earned the contract to construct the Tremont House.

Pullman also developed the sleeping car, also known as Pullman sleeper or “palace car. His design dated back to his youth in Erie Canal, watching the packet boats that ply to and fro the Canal.